DECLARATION
of the State Sovereignty of the
The Supreme Council of the
- Expressing the will of all the people of the
Republic and realizing the undeniable right of the Abkhaz nation on
self-determination,
- Acknowledging the historical responsibility to
the destiny of Abkhazia,
- Confirming the respect to the sovereign rights
of all peoples residing in the
- Pursuing to the principles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants,
- Pursuing to build democratic State functioning
in accordance with law,
Solemnly
declares the State sovereignty of
the
1. The Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia is a
sovereign
The
The
Any violent actions conducted by political
parties, public association or individuals that counter to the state
sovereignty of the Abkhaz ASSR shall be subject of law.
2. The citizens of all nationalities constitute
the people of Abkhazia. The sovereignty
bearer and sole source of authority in the Abkhaz SSR shall be its
multi-national people. The people shall
exercise the authority on the basis of the Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR
through the referendum and electing representational bodies.
3. The State authority in the
4. The Supreme Council of the Abkhaz ASSR shall
exercises the full state authority in the territory of the Abkhaz ASSR, which
has the exclusive right to act on behalf of the people of the
The nation, the Republic is named after, shall be
represented at the Supreme council of the Abkhaz SSR.
5. The Supreme executive body of the state
authority of the Abkhaz SSR shall be the Council of Ministers of the Abkhaz ASSR (the Government
of the Abkhaz ASSR) authorized to decide the issues of the state management
within the competence of the Abkhaz ASSR outside the rights under the
competence of the Supreme Council of the Abkhaz ASSR.
6. The judicial power in the Abkhaz ASSR shall be
exercised through the courts of the Abkhaz ASSR. The supreme judicial body in the Abkhaz ASSR
shall be the Supreme Court of the Abkhaz ASSR.
The justice shall be exercised on behalf of the Abkhaz ASSR.
7. The Abkhaz ASSR shall issue the legal and other
normative acts obtaining all issues within its competence.
The Acts issued by the
8. The
disputes raised between the Abkhaz ASSR, the
9. The Abkhaz ASSR shall participate in realization
of the authorities rendered to the
10. The Abkhaz ASSR shall have the right to
establish representational missions in the
11. The territory of the Abkhaz ASSR shall not be
changed without its consent. The Abkhaz
ASSR decides all issues relating to the administrative-territorial settlement
of the Republic.
12. The Abkhaz ASSR shall decide the issue of
citizenship of persons and secure the right of each citizen to retain the
citizenship.
The Republic grants the citizenship of the Abkhaz
ASSR and decides the issues relating to the deprivation of the citizenship.
13. The Abkhaz ASSR independently determines its
economic status and secures it on the basis of law.
The Abkhaz people shall have the sole right on the
possession, use and management of the national resources of Abkhazia.
The soil, its bowels, air-space, water and other
natural resources on the territory of Abkhazia, natural resources of its
continental shelf, entire economic and intellectual potential established on
the territory of Abkhazia shall be at the possession of the people that is a
material basis of the sovereignty of the Republic and shall be used exclusively
for the purposes to satisfy the material and spiritual needs of its citizens.
The enterprises, agencies and institutions of
other States can be allocated on the
The Abkhaz ASSR establishes the banking (including
foreign-economic bank), pricing, financial, customs and tax policy; forms the
state budget and monetary fund.
The Abkhaz ASSR establishes the National Bank
subordinated to the Supreme Council of the Republic.
14. The Abkhaz ASSR shall independently establish
the order for the environmental protection on the
The Abkhaz ASSR has the right to bar any
construction or suspend the operation of any institution, agency or
organization, which pose at threat to the ecological security.
15. The Abkhaz ASSR shall freely decide the issues
related to the scientific, cultural, educational and spiritual development of
the Abkhaz nation; it shall secure the rights of all nationalities, residing on
the
The Abkhaz ASSR shall secure national-cultural
revival of the Abkhaz people, its historical perception and traditions,
national-ethnographical characteristics, Abkhaz language functioning in all
spheres of the life.
The Abkhaz ASSR shall take care of the Abkhazs
residing in foreign countries in order to satisfy their national, cultural,
spiritual and language needs.
The Abkhaz ASSR affirms its
right on return and establishes the conditions for return of the part of
deported Abkhaz people.
The national, cultural and historical valuables on
the territory of he Abkhaz ASSR shall be property of the Abkhaz people.
The Abkhaz ASSR shall have the right to return at
the possession of the Abkhaz people the national, cultural and historical
valuables outside of the Abkhaz ASSR.
The State language on the territory of the Abkhaz
ASSR is the Abkhaz language; Abkhaz, Georgian and Russian languages are
official languages of the Abkhaz ASSR.
The declaration is a basis for the new
Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR and states on the position of the Republic at
the conclusion of the Union Treaty and the Treaty with the Georgian SSR.
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council
of the Abkhaz ASSR V. Kobakhia
Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Council
of the
(Newspaper “Sovetskaia Abkhazia”, # 164, 28 August 1990)