Deputy Chief Prosecutor could be Georgia’s new Chief Prosecutor

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Georgia, Irakli Shotadze, is likely to become the country’s new Chief Prosecutor after being selected for the post under the newly adopted hiring method.

Thirteen out of the 14-member Prosecutorial Council voted for Irakli Shotadze today; he was one of three candidates named by Georgia’s Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani to fill the post. The other two candidates were Vladimir Gabrichidze and Nana Revazishvili.

Now, Shotadze must send his candidacy to the Government then Parliament for approval. If this happened, current acting Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Badashvili will be replaced by Shotadze. 

New rules regarding the selection and election of the country’s top prosecutor, for a six-year non-renewable term, came into force in September. The new bill also outlined the creation of a 14-member Prosecutorial Council, chaired by the Minister of Justice as the 15th person on the Council. 

Before Shotadze, Gabrichidze and Revazishvili were selected as the final three candidates to appear before the Prosecutorial Council, Tsulukiani held meetings with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), experts, academic representatives and others to determine who would be suitable for the position.

The civil sector and academic institutions named seven candidates, from which Tsulukiani selected three after conducting interviews. After today’s closed voting, Shotadze scored better than Vladimir Gabrichidze and Nana Revazishvili by gaining 13 of 14 votes. 

Shotadze, 32, graduated from Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University’s Faculty of Law department in 2005. Since then he has held various posts within the Chef Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia; 

staring from a role in the Human Resources (HR) department then leading in the investigation direction to his current position as Deputy Chief Prosecutor.

Shotadze is married and can speak Georgian, English, Russian and German languages. 

The process to select the country’s Chief Prosecutor was amended in Georgian legislation in September this year. The amendments were to make the selection process more transparent.

See more details here.