Ruling party says Georgian court is being deliberately discredited

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.

The party says that until 2012, under the leadership of the United National Movement, “it was impossible to find justice” in the country and the court was used by the previous state leadership to threaten people.

The ruling party says that after coming to power, they refused to dismiss judges and instead launched fundamental reforms.

Judges have been freed from political pressure. We are far from stating that everything in the system is ideally arranged for now, however, much has been done and the following statistics confirm this:

• The number of acquitted verdicts has been increased three times [under the Georgian Dream leadership].   
• The number of pretrial detentions has been decreased three times.
• The number of court permits for investigative activities has been halved.
• The cases of releasing people on bail have decreased 18 times (and the money received from the procedure has been decreased from 91 million GEL to five million GEL].
• Figures for fining individuals have been deceased five times [money received through the procedure has been decreased from 229 million GEL to 48 million GEL].
• Administrative imprisonments have been decreased three times.  
• The verdicts delivered against police and a Tbilisi parking company have been increased 200 times.
• The number of lawsuits sent from Georgia to the European Court of Human Rights has been decreased 11 times [from 4,453 to 415].

The Georgian Dream party says that 10 candidates for the Supreme Court of Georgia were named lawfully. Photo: Supreme Court press office. 

The party says that the “genuine transformation” of the Georgian court system was acknowledged by influential international organisations.

Leading US research organisation Heritage Foundation listed Georgia in 2017 and 2018 among the top 20 European countries in terms of the effectiveness of the court system. Georgia takes the first place among the Eastern European countries in this regard,” the party says.

The party states that Georgia was listed among the top 20 European countries for rule of law by the World Justice Project organisation.

In the Global Competitiveness rating by the World Economic Forum, Georgia is among the 15 safest European countries. Georgia was 16th in the world in the World Bank Business Making Rating regarding contractual disputes,” the Georgian Dream says.

The party says that the new constitution of Georgia, which came into play after the inauguration of new president of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili in December, also provided higher guarantees for the fair court system.

The Georgian Dream stated that the nomination of 10 judges for the Supreme Court of Georgia at the end of December 2018, has triggered turmoil in different political, civil and public groups.

Despite the fact the High Council of Justice nominated the candidates in accordance to the law, the process has caused question marks and the Georgian parliament decided to postpone discussions concerning the issue and elaborate new rules for the selection of judges,” the party says.

The party claims that despite the process was ongoing constructively, an attack on the Georgian court system still continues.

A political and media attack on the court system is obvious, which is orchestrated by the United National Movement, its satellite parties and NGOs. The process is fitted to the interests of the political party and has nothing to do with the desire to support positive moves in the court system,” the party says.

The party stated that they “will not tolerate” the unhealthy campaign and called upon all political parties and organisations to refrain from involvement in the campaign which harms the court system.

The party vowed that reforms will continue in the court.