Georgian Parliament Speaker marks Day of Georgia’s First Constitution - “Georgia is free, independent, indivisible state”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday marked the Day of Georgia’s First Constitution, emphasising that the opening words of the 1921 Constitution - “Georgia is a free, independent, and indivisible state” - encapsulate the core of Georgian national statehood.

In a social media message, Papuashvili noted that first articles of constitutions often reveal a country’s core identity and historical mission.

“Perhaps nothing reflects a state’s historical experience and the historical task before it as clearly as the first article of its constitution. It is the fundamental provision that shows what the country is founded upon and what the main meaning of its existence is”, he said.

The Speaker underlined that different countries highlight different foundational values in their constitutional beginnings.

“The Constitution of the United States places institutional order at the foundation of the state and, in its very first article, defines the legislative powers of Congress. The French Constitution declares that France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic, thereby emphasising republican and civic identity. Germany, shaped by its grave historical experience, begins the very first article of its Constitution with the words Human dignity shall be inviolable and makes its protection the highest obligation of the state. The Constitution of Italy proclaims a Republic founded on labour, expressing the idea of a social state”, he noted.

He further noted that in contrast, Georgia’s 1921 Constitution opened with a direct assertion of statehood: “Georgia is a free, independent, and indivisible state”.

“The first article of Georgia’s 1921 Constitution begins as follows: Georgia is a free, independent, and indivisible state. In this single sentence, the essence of national statehood and the historical task that stood before the Georgian nation for centuries - the protection of state independence and the preservation of national unity - are expressed with particular clarity”, the Speaker said.

Papuashvili highlighted that while the constitutions of other states articulate their priorities differently, Georgia’s foundational document clearly centred on sovereignty and indivisibility.

“In the first articles of different countries’ constitutions, the emphasis varies: in some - human rights; in others - the sovereignty of the people; elsewhere - principles of the social state or institutional arrangements. In Georgia’s case, the defining words are freedom, independence, and unity. Alongside being a legal norm, this is also a political manifesto, most vividly expressed by Ilia Chavchavadze in the phrase: Let us belong to ourselves. This idea continued and was reinforced in the 1995 Constitution as well, whose first article once again addresses state sovereignty and unity”, he noted.

“Congratulations on the Day of Georgia’s First Constitution. A day that reminds us that statehood begins with sovereignty”, Papuashvili concluded.