New process to select Chief Prosecutor begins in Georgia

Georgia is making history today by beginning a three-day conference attended by local and international experts to mark the beginning of a long process to elect the country’s new Chief Prosecutor.

Today the three-day Conference of Prosecutors launched, uniting hundreds of prosecutors from all over the country and European Union (EU) officials.

This conference was outlined among amendments to the Georgian Law on Prosecutors, which came into effect on September 28, 2015, which determined the means of selecting the Chief Prosecutor. The changes made the election process more complex but ensured transparency and democracy in the selection process.

The conference launched today in Tbilisi and was being attended by 438 prosecutors from all parts of the country as well as EU officials.

All prosecutors had the right to unite in 12 different initiative groups and name their candidates for the 15-member newly-established Prosecutor’s Council. There must be eight prosecutors on this Council. The total number of candidates offered by initiative groups should not exceed 16. 

The conference will select only eight, best candidates, through voting out of 16 nominees.  This is a historical day for Georgia as all prosecutors have a right to become a part of the very important process,” said Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Badashvili.

 We hope that the eight members will be selected tomorrow,” Badashvili added. 

EU representatives, who co-financed the conference, were attending the three-day conference. Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia Carlo Natale said the EU supported the reform of the Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia. 

We believe the selecting and dismissing process of the Chief Prosecutor should be transparent, objective and unbiased. It is very important that the process is depoliticised, more transparent and democratic,” Natale said.

On September 18  this year Georgia’s Parliament passed a bill at its final reading that introduced new, more complex rules of how to select and elect a Chief Prosecutor for a non-renewable six-year term.

The bill outlined creation of a 15-member Prosecutorial Council, chaired by the Minister of Justice. Wording of the bill stated: "to ensure the independence and transparency of the Prosecutor’s Office and for effective accomplishment of its functions, an independent body under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Prosecutors’ Council – will be established”. 

Eight members of the Council will be prosecutors elected by the Conference of Prosecutors, which was also a new structure suggested in the bill.  

Members of Parliament (MPs) will take two seats; one from the majority and one from the opposition, while one seat will be held by a civil society representative and another from an academic. Two seats would also be held by judges of the High Council of Justice.

For the final position, the new procedures stated the Justice Minister would select three candidates and then present them to the Prosecutorial Council for approval. The Council must approve one candidate by voting; the successful nominee must gain two thirds of support.

If this failed, the Justice Minister will be required to name three other candidates. However, if selected, the chosen candidate will go before the Government for approval. If the candidate was disliked, the process of selecting nominees will begin again. If endorsed, the candidate must be approved by Parliament. Parliament should confirm the candidate before the candidate is officially appointed to the role of Chief Prosecutor of Georgia.