Georgian Declaration of Independence, 1918
| Georgian Declaration of Independence | |
|---|---|
1918 document signed by the members of the National Council | |
| Created | 26 May 1918 |
| Location | National Archives of Georgia (the document is owned by the parliament of Georgia, but is kept in the Archives) |
| Signatories | Members of the National Council of Georgia |
| Purpose | Established Democratic Republic of Georgia |
The Georgian Declaration of Independence or the Act of Independence of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს დამოუკიდებლობის აქტი) is a founding document, establishing the Democratic Republic of Georgia as independent from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. On 26 May 1918, it was adopted by the National Council of Georgia, who convined at the National Palace in Tiflis, in the main city and later capital of Georgia.
The declaration is the first Georgian constitutional document. It has a declarative nature. It briefly conveys the historical prospects for the development of Georgia as a state and the insatiable desire of the Georgian nation to decide its future destiny, and describes the political situation of that time. In addition to its declarative nature, the declaration also has a purely normative character. It has a constitutional-legal nature - from May 26, 1918, until the adoption of the Constitution in 1921, it became the primary source of the legal situation of that time. It defines the legal status of the state, the scope and extent of jurisdiction, the form of the political system, the main directions of foreign policy, the provisional state authorities and the highest governing bodies that are supposed to ensure the state of the country.
The declaration was ratified by the Constituent Assembly of Georgia, the directly elected legislative body, on May 12, 1919.
The origial copy of the declaration is kept by the National Archives of Georgia.