Ruling party close to agreement on Georgian Supreme Court judge selection process
This is the first time when HCJ will nominates candidates for the Supreme Court and send the list to the Parliament for voting. Photo: Georgian Dream
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The leader of the parliamentary majority, Archil Talakvadze, has announced that the ruling party is ‘almost decided’ on procedures for selecting judges to the Georgian Supreme Court.
After the meeting held at Georgian Dream office last evening, he said that working on selection procedures will be kept in the legal framework meaning that it will be in alignment with the constitutional principles and other legislative acts regulating court system.
Considering the existing legal framework we will continue working on the document which will improve the Supreme Court judges’ selection process, their introduction to the parliament and finally, appointment,” Talakvadze said.
Former Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, Eka Beselia, who quit the post due to “hasty and unacceptable” process of lifetime appointment of judges which ‘should be suspended until the selection process is refined, also attended the meeting.
I have once again touched the issue of suspension of the judges lifetime appointment which had been shared by the Chairman of the ruling party. Bidzina ivanishvili said he supports this idea. Nobody seemed against. So we start initiation of a related procedures on how to appoint judges in the first and second instance courts while the supreme court issue needs to be discussed separately once again,” she said after the meeting at the Georgian Dream office.
Ten judges who have been nominated by the High Council of Justice for the Supreme Court of Georgia on December 25, 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 said.
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 the country.
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.
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.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that the time ended long ago when the government interfered in the court issues. However, he says that public should have the feeling that objective criteria and procedures exist for the selection of judges.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze says that two formats will be created to provide criteria and procedures which will remove question marks regarding the lifetime appointment of judges in courts.
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.
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.
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 political council of the Georgian Dream ruling party has released a statement in which it says that the Georgian court system is “deliberately discredited” and that the United National Movement opposition party stands behind the “politically motivated” process.
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.
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.