Ruling party founder Ivanishvili reveals his view on recent turmoil on judges for Supreme Court
The Georgian Dream ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili criticised former head of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee in his recent statement. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
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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.
In a statement released today, Ivanishvili also criticized former head of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee Eka Beselia, who stated on 27 December that she left her post because of the list of “controversial judges who are linked with politically motivated cases.”
Ivanishvili stated that the 24 December decision of the High Council of Justice, an independent body responsible for the appointment of judges in the country to nominate judges for lifetime positions on the Supreme Court in an accelerated manner had “objective grounds,” as currently there are 10 judges instead of 28 on the court to deal with issues.
However, despite this, I believe that the ruling party in the parliament made a reasonable decision to postpone discussions on the list of judges until the spring session. We respect different views and the High Council of Justice also took the decision with understanding,” statement reads.
Beselia had accused parliament speaker of lobbying the list of judges.Photo: 1TV.
Saying this Ivanishvili stated that Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze announced plans regarding the delay in the discussions on 26 December, while Beselia told journalists about her resignation on 27 December.
Therefore, it was unclear why did Beselia connect her resignation with the list [as the ruling party stated a day before that the decision regarding the list would be made after large-scale discussions and consultations].”
Ivanishvili added that Beselia’s quitting the post and her appointment as vice parliament speaker was made in the summer.
However, since Beselia went against the team, her appointment as vice speaker is not on the agenda,” Ivanishvili said.
He stated that Beselia made another mistake when she raised candidates for the deputy head of the Legal Affairs Committee through the “rough violation of procedures.”
Ivanishvili vowed that the decisions which will be made regarding the judges will more strengthen the Georgian court system.
The decision of the High Council of Justice regarding the judges has stirred negative statements of the civil sector and several members of the ruling party, as they believed that several judges on the list were related with unfair judiciary.
The civil sector called upon the parliament not to approve the list and refine the procedures for selection of judges.
Ivanishvili says that refining the procedures is on the agenda and this is likely to take place before the spring session.
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 appointment of Gedevan Pophkadze as the deputy head of parliament’s legal affairs committee has stirred controversy in the Georgian Dream ruling party.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated that the Georgian Dream will definitely preserve its majority in parliament and that it is not a tragedy that several of its members have decided to leave.
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.
About 20 opposition parties have signed an agreement on how to achieve the ‘true independence of the judiciary’ in Georgia after a win in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has released its opinion on the Georgian amendments to the court system which were adopted in September 2020, expressing worries that the Georgian parliament did not wait for its assessments.