Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khatuna Totladze hosted the second lecture of the Levan Alexidze Lectures at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

The lecture “Academician Levan Alexidze and the development of International Law school in Georgia” was delivered by Khatuna Totladze and Prof. Dr. Ketevan Khutsishvili. The contribution by Professor Levan Alexidze in the inclusion of a number of issues in the 9 April 1991 Act on Restoration of Independent Statehood of Georgia adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia was highlighted during the lecture. It was also underscored, that in the beginning of April 1991 President of the Republic of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia tasked a member of the Supreme Council of Georgia Levan Alexidze and then Minister of Justice Joni Khetsuriani to draft an act based on the results of the Referendum of 31 March, 1991, which would have reflected a vigorous and cohesive will of population of Georgia regarding the indispensability of restoration of independence of the country. The Act on Restoration of Independent Statehood of Georgia encompassed a number of the most important international legal provisions, including the recognition of a concept of primacy of International Law in Georgia having the supreme legal authority, as considered and reflected in publications by Levan Alexidze throughout decades. According to the Act, the primacy of International Law over the laws of the Republic of Georgia was pronounced as one of the main Constitutional principles of the Republic of Georgia. This was later reflected in the 1995 Constitution of Georgia.

Levan Alexidze’s life and work was commended in the light of his enduring activities to seek and establish international legal basis for settling conflicts on the territory of Georgia, as well as by highlighting international legal aspects of Russian invasion to Georgia and occupation in 2008, along with evoking official documents which had been drafted by Professor Levan Alexidze or with his co-authorship, having immense importance for the statehood of contemporary Georgia.

The Levan Alexidze Lectures was established by Professor Ketevan Khutsishvili, in order to advance Academician Levan Alexidze’s professional legacy and promote Georgia’s International Law school. The inaugural Levan Alexidze lecture was led earlier by Professor of European Human Rights Law and former Dean of Law School at Leiden University (The Netherlands) Dr. Rick Lawson.