Parliament rejects Supreme Court judge candidates, nominated by President

Two judges nominated by the President of Georgia to be appointed new Supreme Court Judges have been rejected by Parliament of Georgia.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili presented Nino Bakakuri and Zurab Dzlierishvili as candidates for the position of Judges in the Supreme Court today. They needed at least 76 votes to be approved for the position.

But this did not happen. During the voting process, 29 members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favour of Bakakuri and 27 voted for Dzlierishvili.

Meanwhile Georgia´s President said he would continue supporting his nominees. Margvelashvili’s Parliamentary secretary Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze said the President would present Dzlierishvili and Bakakuri´s candidacy for Supreme Court Judges in the future.

Candidate Bakakuri has worked as a lawyer for 16 years and three years working experience as a judge. From 1998 to 2004 she worked for the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) as a lawyer and legal adviser.

In 2004-2008 she was the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal and a Tbilisi District Court Panel Judge.

Since 2008 she has worked for Nodia, Urumashvili and Partners law firm, and is one of the partners. Bakakuri obtained her Masters in Law at Columbia University´s Law School in New York.

She has spent time as a researcher at Georgetown University Law School in international law and is a member of New York Lawyers Association. She is also a lecturer in comparative corporate law, corporate governance and business law at various universities.

The other candidate, Dzlierishvili, is a Doctor of Law and has been a member of the Ethics Committee of the Bar Association since 2009.

He is an arbiter of the Tbilisi Arbitration Institute, has many years teaching experience and has penned many research and scientific articles.