Eka Beselia quits as Parliament’s Legal Committee head due to ‘unacceptable process’ related to judges

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.

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.

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.

Today the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili named two females as candidates for judge of 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.

The appointment of Gedevan Pophkadze as the deputy head of parliament’s legal affairs committee has stirred controversy in the Georgian Dream ruling party. 

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The Georgian Dream ruling party faction has withdrawn Gedevan Popkhadze from the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee which makes it impossible for Popkhadze to take the post of deputy head of the committee, to which he was elected last week.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has denied any connection between the fact that the Legal Affairs Committee head Eka Beselia and its member Gedevan Popkhadze left the ruling party majority and the controversial process of appointing judges in the country.

Georgian Dream ruling party leaders say that the controversial list of ten judges for the Supreme Court of Georgia will not be discussed in an accelerated manner and discussions around the issue will take place in the spring.

Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party political council and the founder of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili has revealed his view regarding the controversial issue of the nomination of ten judges for the Supreme Court of Georgia at the end of December.

The Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee has elected former deputy head of the committee David Matikashvili as acting head until the spring session, before the committee launches discussions on the controversial list of judges for the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Ten judges, who were  nominated for the Supreme Court of Georgia at the end of December 2018, have released a joint statement today in which they call upon the parliament to suspend discussions around their candidacies.

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.

Georgia Dream ruling party member Eka Beselia, who left the post of the head of the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee at the end of December, says that she is facing a moral terror as footage of her personal life has gone viral.

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.

Anry Okhanashvili whose candidacy needs to be voted by the Parliament will replace former Chair Eka Beselia. The latter does not support Anri Okhanashvili as the new Chair while the ruling party says majority of its members are supporting his candidacy.

The Georgian Dream ruling party has asked the Council of Europe Venice Commission to get involved in the drafting of a bill which will set criteria for the selection and the appointment of Georgian judges.

Levan Gogichaishvili has quit the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party today after the party members refused or refrained from supporting the bill regarding the court proposed by him and eight other legislators of the ruling party.

Eka Beselia, former head of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, has announced she is leaving the Georgian Dream ruling party, saying that the party had “betrayed its values.”

Georgian MP Zviad Kvachantiradze has left the ruling Georgian Dream party and its faction in parliament.

The parliamentary minority of Georgia has dissolved as MPs have left the European Georgia political party.

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.

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.

Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Vano Zardiashvili, who recently was physically assaulted by now-independent MP Eka Beselia at the end of September, has announced his resignation. 

Member of the Lelo Movement Vakhtang Robakidze, who previously was a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has been detained for attacking ruling party MP Anri Okhanashvili in the presence of the latter’s three, underage children in a restaurant in Bakuriani yesterday.