Ruling party founder Ivanishvili reveals his view on recent turmoil on judges for Supreme Court

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.