Announcements

On April 19, 2013 Georgian Parliament passed amendment in the Civil Code initiated by the Ministry of Education. According to this amendment

“38.1 it is forbidden to change legal form of non-entrepreneur (non-commercial) legal entity in any case other than through changing legal form the entity is transformed into legal entity of public law”;

38.11 Division, amalgamation and liquidation of non-entrepreneur (non-commercial) legal entity is implemented according to the rule established by the Georgia legislation about liquidation/reorganization of an entrepreneur subject.”

This amendment restricts university’s autonomy and self-governance and therefore academic freedom as well, because academic freedom at the university is not only the freedom of research and teaching but also the right of professors, researchers and students to decide independently, in frames of Georgian legislation, how university should work as an administrative unit and what kind of relationship should it have with governmental and non-governmental organizations. Even more, according to this amendment turning university into the subject of public law makes university’s movable, immovable and intellectual property much more vulnerable.  University and in particular the College of Engineering not only owns the property but also creates public and intellectual property. The stimulus that directs professors, researchers and students towards the development is the confidence that private and intellectual property created by them is intact. Accordingly, with this amendment the development of the university also comes under the question.

Therefore, we appeal to the Georgian government and Parliament to take into consideration all of abovementioned issues and to return the right to university’s professors, researchers and students to decide by themselves in which legal form they want to exist in Georgian and international legal space. 

Ilia State University the College of Engineering Council