EU, US ambassadors in Georgia support moratorium on election of judges
EU and US ambassadors to Georgia say that electoral and justice reforms should be carried out in line with the recent EU-mediated agreement between the government and the opposition. Photo: EU in Georgia press office.
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EU and US ambassadors to Georgia say that the election of judges to Georgia’s Supreme Court and members of the High Council of Justice should take place only after major justice reforms have been carried out in line with the recent EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
Opposition MPs have also demanded the moratorium earlier this week, stating that the High Council of Justice, which selects and appoints judges in the country, is currently composed of ‘biased judges’ and that the body has ‘a low trust in public.’
The High Council of Justice is scheduled to elect its four members tomorrow.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has welcomed a letter by the Georgian Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava which initiates the creation of a working group in the state legislature for justice reform.
Both Hartzell and US Ambassador Kelly Degnan say that electoral and justice reforms in Georgia ‘are crucial’ and should be conducted ‘in full-line with the EU-mediated agreement.’
Opposition MPs from Lelo, Strategy Agmashenebli, Khatuna Samnidze from Republican Party, independent MP David Bakradzea and MP Zurab Japaridze from Girchi-More Freedom have demanded the postponement of elections for four new members of Georgia’s High Council of Justice.
The Georgian parliament must ensure transparency in judicial reform, including the appointment of judges, the ambassadors of the European Union and the United States Carl Hartzell and Kelly Degnan, and Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tbilisi Natalia Voutova say in a letter sent to Georgian Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava.
The Lelo opposition party has submitted a bill requesting the state legislature declare a moratorium on the election of new judges for the country’s Supreme Court and new members in the High Council of Justice before the implementation of the EU-mediated agreement.
The Georgian parliament has approved 14 of total 19 candidates for lifelong judges of the Georgian Supreme Court amid protests of the opposition and civic groups. Prosecutor General Shalva Tadumadze, his deputy Mamuka Vasadze and Secretary of Georgia’s High Council of Justice Giorgi Mikautadze are among those approved.
Four individuals have been elected to Georgia’s High Council of Justice earlier today amid a rally of civic activists and the calls of the US and the EU ambassadors to pause the process.
Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin has disapproved of the recent election of four new members in the Georgian High Council of Justice, the body which selects and appoints judges in the country.
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association says that clan rule of Georgia’s High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which selects and appoints judges around the country, remains a major challenge.
The ruling party says that it supports appointing of judges to the country’s supreme court despite calls from the opposition to place a moratorium on the process. Chair of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze said earlier today that the process would not be paused because the party has already fulfilled several conditions stipulated by the agreement between the opposition and the ruling party.
Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) has joined several parliamentary opposition parties and the ombudswoman and has refused to participate in the screening of candidates for judges to the country’s Supreme Court in the state legislature.