Doubling of Executive’s Emergency Powers - Georgia’s Constitutional Dilemma?

Georgia’s Constitution defines that national security concerns and emergency situations should be arranged under the President of Georgia. After 2012 elections, Georgia has a new majority and, since 2013, a new constitutional arrangement of power, which replaced former presidential model with parliamentary system. This has created chaos in security structures and legislation. Frequently, there were cases when leading decision-makers from government including the Prime-Minster refused to participate to the works of the National Security Council chaired by the President. In 2014, the Government of Georgia issued a bylaw creating special Council for State Safety and Crisis Management. It is argued that functions of the newly created council are copied from National Security Council which creates serious management problems as well as constitutional crisis. Our paper addresses the following problem and provides an analysis of Georgian legislation in this regard. Further, we address concrete case of Tbilisi flooding which showed serious flows in Georgia’s emergency response apparatus and revealed legal challenges of the whole security system.