Controversies and criticism emerge around 10 judges nominated for Georgian Supreme Court
If the judges are approved they will serve on the Supreme Court of Georgia for the duration of their lifetime. Photo: Supreme Court of Georgia.
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Ten judges who have been nominated by the High Council of Justice for the Supreme Court of Georgia have triggered controversies and criticism in the public and civil sector, as several of the judges “are affiliated with the United National Movement government and biased judiciary”, several members of the HCJ and NGOs say.
Three non-judge members of JCJ claim that the majority of the 15-member body have violated obligatory procedures and drafted the list of judges “without any previous warnings and agreements.”
We found out about the candidates on voting day. The list is shameful. There was no open competition and consultations regarding the candidates who may run the Supreme Court for life, as the judges will be appointed for their lifetime,” Nazi Janezashvili, a non-judge member of the HCJ stated, who came to attend the voting process with her two-month-old child.
I came with my child to show that after 25 years she and her generation may have to fight with the biased judges appointed now,” Janezashvili said.
The NGOs were particularly critical to Mikheil Chinchaladze's nomination for the Supreme Court judge.
Another non-judge member of HCJ Anna Dolidze told the HCJ members that they “killed the Georgian court’s future” by presenting the candidates.
Dolidze, who was appointed to the council by President Giorgi Margvelashvili in early 2018, says that the judge members of the council may address current President Salome Zurabishvili to recall her from the council, as she is too critical to the activities of the body.
Dolidze called upon the president to reveal her position regarding the court issues, as it is the “most significant topic for the country’s future”.
This is the first time when HCJ nominates candidates for the Supreme Court and sends the candidates to the Parliament of Georgia for voting.
The procedure was written into the new constitution of Georgia which came into force after the 16 December inauguration of the new president of Georgia.
It is up to the parliament to support the candidates or not.
The candidates nominated are:
- Mikheil Chinchaladze.
- Giorgi Mikautadze.
- Mariam Tsiskadze.
- Nino Kadagidze.
- Paata Silagadze.
- Dimitri Gvritishvili.
- Merab Gabinashvili.
- Nino Sandodze.
- Tamar Alania.
- Giorgi Tkavadze.
12 leading Georgian NGOs have called upon parliament not to support the candidates and change the rules which enable certain judges to make controversial decisions.
The majority of the council has supported the most distinguished members of the dominant group of judges in the court system, whose reputation cannot resist any criticism. The candidates are Mikheil Chinchaladze, Giorgi Mikautadze, Dimitri Gvritishvili, Tamar Alania, Merab Gabinashvili and Giorgi Tkavadze,” the NGOs say.
The process of appointing judges to the Supreme Court should be suspended until the current rules are changed,” NGOs stated.
Anna Dolidze says that several members of HCJ may appeal for president against her. Photo: President's press office.
Georgian Dream ruling party member Mamuka Mdinaradze says that the party is not unanimous as to whether to support the list of candidates.
Head of the Legal Committee of the Parliament of Georgia from the ruling party Eka Beselia claims that the biography and deeds of all the presented candidates will be studied in detail by her committee and a decision will be made only after.
Giorgi Mikautadze, one of the candidates, says that the necessary procedures were met and the candidates should have been named urgently as the Supreme Court is “much in need of judges”.
All the candidates presented are worthy and they have years of experience in the court system. Now there are only 11 judges in the Supreme Court and they have loads of work [instead of 28],” Mikautadze said.
The High Council of Justice underwent major changes in 2013. According to the amendments the High Council of Justice is now composed of 15 members. Eight members are elected by the self-governing body of judges, five members by the Parliament of Georgia and one member is appointed by the president.
A high official within the Presidential Administration believes the country’s justice system requires "fundamental reforming” as otherwise the public could lose trust in the country’s justice system.
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili has named the country’s Deputy Minister of Defence as his candidate to become the latest judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Today the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili named two females as candidates for judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has stated that the most recent decision of the High Council of Justice to appoint several judges for life has triggered question marks in public.
Georgian Vice Parliament Speaker Tamar Chugoshvili has stated that the High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which is responsible for the selection and appointment of judges, should start considering of the public view.
Head of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee Eka Beselia has quit the post and stated at a briefing today that her decision was related to the “hasty and unacceptable” process of lifetime appointment of judges with a “controversial past” to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
The High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body responsible for the selection and appointment of judges, has appointed Levan Murusidze, a judge disliked by the civil sector and many in the Georgian Dream ruling party, as a lifetime judge to the Court of Appeals.
Levan Murusidze, who has been appointed as a judge on the court of appeals, has called upon the civil sector to organise discussions which will help him end a “deliberate negative campaign” against him.
The non-judge members of the High Council of Justice Nazi Janezashvili and Anna Dolidze, as well as the members of the United National Movement left the court reform working group meeting headed by the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze.
This is the first time when High Council of Justice nominates candidates for the Supreme Court and sends the candidates to the Parliament of Georgia for voting but the ten judges nominated by the HCJ have triggered controversies and criticism in the public and civil sector. So the government considers new regulations regarding the judges selection.
Former member of the Georgian Dream ruling party Eka Beselia, who is now opposing her former colleagues regarding court-related issues, says that current member of the ruling party Mamuka Mdinaradze mistakenly sent her a message which included swearwords about her.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has released an evaluation of a bill put forward by ruling Georgian Dream party MPs concerning the long-disputed issue of the lifetime appointment of judges to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Ruling Georgian Dream party member Archil Talakvadze says that two of the Venice Commission recommendations regarding the bill on the selection and appointment procedures of the Georgian Supreme Court judges have already been taken into account and the related sections in the bill have been amended.
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia welcome steps aimed to make the process of selecting Supreme Court judges more transparent. At the same time, they express “serious concern” at the manner in which the High Council of Justice prepared the list of candidates for parliament.
Independent MP Eka Belesia, who once was a member of the Georgian Dream ruling party, attacked ruling party MP Vano Zardiashvili during the hearing for a candidate to the Supreme Court during the Legal Issues Committee meeting of parliament earlier today.
Members of the High Council of Justice of Georgia (HCOJ), the independent body responsible for the selection and appointment of judges in the country, have requested President Salome Zurabishvili to withdraw non-judge member of the council Anna Dolidze “for making political statements and violating mandatory ethics.”
Head of the Georgian Constitutional Court Zaza Tavadze, who is on the 20-person list presented to parliament for a lifetime appointment as a judge on the Georgian Supreme Court, has withdrawn his candidacy, citing controversies related to his higher education.
Seven NGOs, including Transparency International Georgia and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, have urged non-judge member of Georgia’s High Council of Justice Anna Dolidze to leave her post if she has plans to enter politics.
The High Council of Justice has appointed 36 judges to appellate and district courts in Georgia. Newly appointed judges who have more than three years of experience in the court system are appointed for life, while the rest are appointed for a probationary period of three years.