PACE Monitors: ‘Parliament must rectify the selection process for Supreme Court judges’
PACE co-rapporteurs Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern paid a fact-finding visit to Georgia on September 17-18. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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.
PACE co-rapporteurs Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern paid a fact-finding visit to Georgia on September 17-18. Following the visit they named a number of shortcomings in the process, including:
- a lack of clear and uniform selection criteria,
- excessive discretion by High Council of Justice members in who is selected,
- a failure to provide reasoned decisions for both the establishment of the shortlist and the final selection of candidates.
They said in a joint statement that all these shortcomings could have been avoided if the authorities had fully implemented the recommendations of the Venice Commission, "in particular with regard to secret voting, uniform criteria and reasoned decisions”.
The selection process has moved to parliament, which now has a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to rectify these shortcomings. The parliament should hold open and transparent interviews with the candidates, based on uniform criteria, and come to a well-reasoned decision”, they stated.
Corlatean and Kern underscored that “given the questions that have been raised over the quality of the candidate list, it is important that parliament only appoints the minimum number of judges needed to ensure the proper functioning of the Supreme Court".
The remaining positions should be filled on the basis of a new list of candidates, properly established by the High Council of Justice and preferably after the 2020 parliamentary elections, in line with Venice Commission recommendations", they recommend.
Photo: Supreme Court's press office
The High Council of Justice of Georgia, a body which is responsible for the selection and appointment of Supreme Court judges released a final list of 20 candidates for lifetime appointment earlier this month. From September 23, legislators started discussing the candidates at individual hearings.
OSCE/ODIHR said in its recent report that “the nomination and appointment of Supreme Court Judges in Georgia is lacking transparency and accountability despite some positive measures to build public trust in the judiciary”.
However, Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze promised that legislators will vote on the candidacy of the Supreme Court judges in a transparent manner in line with democratic standards.
"Parliament must rectify the selection process for Supreme Court judges" say PACE monitors, ending #Georgia visit https://t.co/JrDs3t4Dq7 pic.twitter.com/xyMZWoTFHj
— PACE (@PACE_News) September 25, 2019
In their recent statement, the PACE co-rapporteurs welcomed the "fourth wave" of judicial reforms, a fully proportional electoral system for 2020 and the progress made in terms of strengthening parliamentary oversight as well.
They also condemned the ongoing "borderisation" and creeping annexation in Georgia's Russian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) “in the strongest possible terms”.
These actions destabilise the region and inflict an unacceptable human cost on both sides of the lines", they said.
Corlatean and Kern reiterated the Assembly’s “full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders”.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said legislators will vote on the candidacy of the Supreme Court judges in a transparent manner in line with democratic standards. He said the candidates will be asked “all the important questions” and only afterwards will MPs make a decision whether or not to approve the list.
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.
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.
The Georgian Public Defender’s office has appealed to the Constitutional Court to declare the rule on the selection of Supreme Court judges unlawful as the current regulation “violates the right of a Georgian citizen to hold public office, to have access to a fair trial and it violates the principle of an independent and impartial trial.”
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia have expressed their “regret and disappointment” over the recent appointment of 14 Supreme Court judges.
Georgian Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani said the parliament of Georgia has approved of the new Supreme Court judges and every European should respect the decision of the independent country’s legislators.