DECREE ISSUED BY THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ABKHAZIA on Cessecion of the Legal Effect of the Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR of 1978

Over the recent time the events that have taken place on the territory of the former USSR drastically changed inter-state relations and established new legal interrelation between former Soviet entities. All aforementioned affected relations between Abkhazia and Georgia.

Legal state status of Abkhazia and its relation with the Georgian SSR and the USSR was determined and regulated by the Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR and Georgian SSR of 1978, as well as by the Constitution of the USSR.

In 1989-1990 the Supreme Council of the Georgian SSR unilaterally adopted a number of legal acts initiated Georgia’s secession from the USSR. Among them are the Decree issued by the Supreme Council of the Georgian SSR of 18 November 1989 and of 9 March and 20 June of 1990.

Pursuant to these documents all state institutions of Georgia that are established since 24 February of 1921, as well as all legal acts issued by those institutions are declared null and void.

After disintegration of the USSR, in February of 1992, in order to suspend legal linkage with the former USSR, the State Council of Georgia issued the Decision on switching to the Constitution of the Georgian Democratic Republic of 1921, which doesn’t consider Abkhaz ASSR.

As a result of adopted decisions by Georgian authorities and based on the aforementioned Decrees, the Georgian SSR that had the legal relation with the Abkhaz ASSR, suspended its existence and a new state - Georgian Democratic Republic has been introduced and that has no relations with the Abkhaz ASSR.

As it is widely known, Abkhazia was included within the state of Georgia on the treaty base, which was concluded in February of 1922. The relations between Georgia and Abkhazia were regulated by further legal acts from 1922 to 1989. The last one among those acts were the Constitutions of Abkhazia and Georgia adopted in 1978 and the Constitution of the USSR of 1977.

The Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR of 1978 was adopted in compliance with the Constitution of the Georgian SSR of 1978 and the Constitution of the USSR of 1977. After abrogation of the Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR, Abkhazia was deprived the legal right of existence, that complies neither with the political nor the legal realities of present time. Thus inadmissible legal vacuum has been established in the relation of Abkhazia and Georgia.

In order to settle legal abeyance between them, and also striving for the restoration of interstate relations between Abkhazia and Georgia, the Supreme Council of the Abkhaz ASSR decrees:

1. To consider the Constitution of the Abkhaz ASSR of 1978 null and void.

2. The Constitution of the Abkhaz SSR of 1925 will be in force before adoption of the new Constitution of Abkhazia retaining the current system of legislative, executive and judicial power.

3. To entrust the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia with a task of bringing proposals to the session of the Supreme Council on composition of the working group for elaboration Agreement between Abkhazia and Georgia.

4. The Constitutional Commission shall accelerate the work on the draft-Constitution of Abkhazia with further submission to the Supreme Council of Abkhazia in September 1992.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Abkhazia V. Ardzinba

23 July 1992

(Newspaper “Abkhazia”, # 27, 30 July-6 August 1992)