Democracy Building in Georgia: The Case for the Ottawa Convention

Abstract

Georgia would seem to present a particularly difficult case for the universal adoption of the Ottawa Convention. The focus of this paper will be to provide a specific strategy to encourage Georgia’s signing of the Treaty. The key to convincing Georgia to participate in the worldwide movement, is to focus on the Treaty’s utility as a mechanism for democracy-building. The country has shown an intense interest in being recognised as a democracy. Reinterpreting the Treaty as a step towards this goal may provide the needed impetus to have the Georgian government finally sign the document. I will use a proceduralist interpretation of the role of law in a nation to buttress my claim that signing the Ottawa Convention shows not only a commitment to human rights, but also to democracy.