Acting justice minister nominates three candidates for chief prosecutor

Acting Justice Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze has nominated three candidates for the position of chief prosecutor, after the former Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze resigned on May 31. 

Sarjveladze has held consultations with non-governmental and academic field representatives and selected the current head of the Government Administration of Georgia Shalva Tadumadze, Assistant Professor of Tbilisi State University Nino Gogniashvili and former lawmaker from the Free Democrats opposition party Shalva Shavgilidze out of 18 proposed candidates.

The changes made to the law in 2015 read that the chief prosecutor must be elected, not appointed.

Shotadze was the first chief prosecutor of Georgia who was elected by the parliament of Georgia.

• After the selection of the three candidates, the prosecutorial council - also formed in the 2015 bill and chaired by the minister of justice - nominates one individual for the position. 
• Eight members of the council are prosecutors elected by the Conference of Prosecutors, which was also a new structure suggested in the bill.
• Members of parliament (MPs) have two seats; one from the majority and one from the opposition, while one seat is held by a civil society representative and another from an academic. Two seats are occupied by judges of the High Council of Justice.
• The council must approve one candidate by vote; the successful nominee must gain two thirds of the council’s support. 
• If this fails, the justice minister will be required to name three other candidates. 
• However, if selected, the chosen candidate will go before the government for approval. If the candidate is not approved, the process of selecting nominees begins again. If endorsed, the candidate must be approved by parliament.