The idea of limiting royal power and creating a parliamentary-type body of government was conceived among the aristocrats and citizens in the 12th century Kingdom of Georgia, during the reign of Queen Tamar, the first Georgian female monarch.

[citation needed] In the view of Queen Tamar's oppositionists and their leader, Qutlu Arslan, the first Georgian Parliament was to be formed of two "Chambers": a) Darbazi – or assembly of aristocrats and influential citizens who would meet from time to time to take decisions on the processes occurring in the country, the implementation of these decisions devolving on the monarch b) Karavi – a body in permanent session between the meetings of the Darbazi.

Subsequently, it was only in 1906 that the Georgians were afforded the opportunity of sending their representatives to a parliamentary body of government, to the Second State Duma (from 1801 Georgia had been incorporated in the Russian Empire).

Georgian deputies to the Duma were Noe Zhordania (later the Premier of independent Georgia in 1918–21), Ilia Chavchavadze (founder of the Georgian National Movement), Irakli Tsereteli (leader of the Social-Democratic Faction in the Second Duma, later Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia's Provisional Government), Karlo Chkheidze (leader of the Menshevik Faction in the Fourth State Duma, Chairman of the first convocation of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in 1917, and Chairman of the Trans-Caucasian Seym in 1918), and others.

[6] In 2011 Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, signed a constitutional amendment which decreed that the seat of the parliament shall be the western city of Kutaisi.

This was done in an effort to decentralize power and shift some political control closer to the breakaway region of Abkhazia, although it has been criticized as marginalizing the legislature, and also for the demolition of a Soviet war memorial at the new building's location.

[8] Starting from 1 January 2019, Tbilisi is once again the sole seat of the Parliament and all operations and meetings now take place in the capital, similar to the situation that existed prior to the 2012 move to Kutaisi.

[12] The Parliament of Georgia is elected on the basis of universal, free, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.

Scheduled parliamentary elections are held on the last Saturday of October of the calendar year in which the term of Parliament expires.

[16] The Parliament meets in its official capacity for a regular session twice a year, from September to December and from February to June.

[21] The Parliament can be dissolved by the President of Georgia if the legislature fails to approve the incoming Government in the established time-frame.

[22] The Parliament of Georgia elects the Chairperson for its term by a majority of the total number of its members by secret ballot.

From 2012 to 2018, the regular parliamentary sessions were held in a new building specially constructed for this purpose in Kutaisi, then the second largest city of Georgia, 231 kilometres (144 mi) west of Tbilisi.