DECISION TAKEN BY THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE SOUTH OSSETIAN SOVIET REPUBLIC on validity of the Constitution (Organic Law) on the territory of the South Ossetia

The First Session of the South Ossetian Soviet Socialist Republic notes that the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia has recently adopted anti-constitutional normative act infringing the sovereign rights of the people of South Ossetia. In particular, South Ossetian autonomous Oblast has been abolished by decree of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia of 11 December 1990. That is a gross violation of Article 73, section 3 of the Constitution (Organic Law) of the USSR that states that the establishment of fundamentals of organization and activities of the state authority and local self-governance in the union republics is exclusively under the jurisdiction of the USSR. The Republic of Georgia practically has abolished all soviet structures and that becomes evident from the law adopted on 14 November “On changing the name of the Georgian SSR”, law “On Holding Elections of the Local governance” adopted on 11 December 1990 and others.

Pursuant to Article 74 of the Constitution of the USSR, if the law of the union republic is not in compliance with the Constitution of the USSR, the Constitution of the USSR shall have a superior legal force.

Proceeding from the aforementioned, the First Session of the Supreme Council of the South Ossetian Soviet Socialist Republic decides:

1. To suspend the validity of the Georgian laws and other legal acts, which do not comply with the Constitution of the USSR, the laws of the USSR and the law of the Georgian SSR “On the South Ossetian Autonomous oblast”.

2. To ask the relevant bodies of the USSR for re-subordination of all structures of the soviet authority under the competence of the agencies of the Soviet Union.

Chairman of he Supreme Council of the South Ossetian Soviet Republic T. G. Kulumbegov

13 December 1990

(Newspaper “Sovetskaia Ossetia”, 3 January 1991)