Parliament elects Supreme Court chair amid opposition boycott
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The Georgian parliament has elected Nino Kadagidze as the new chair of the Georgian Supreme Court amid the protests of the United National Movement and the European Georgia opposition parties.
The opposition parties which boycott the parliament as the ruling Georgian Dream party ‘refused to fully meet the March 8 election agreement and release political prisoners,’ refused to attend the voting.
The opposition is against Kadagidze anyway, claiming ‘she will fail to be independent and carry out necessary changes in the court.’
82 MPs voted for Kadagidze with no votes against, as the opposition parties were absent and several independent MPs also refused to vote.
The ruling party MPs said Kadagidze is 'worthy and qualified' for the new role. Photo: parliament of Georgia press office.
Independent MPs Eka Beselia and Levan Gogichaishvili said Kadagidze is ‘far from being a proper chair’ of the court, adding that the ruling party ‘used the situation created by the coronavirus’ to approve the ‘candidate beneficial for them.’
The Georgian High Council of Justice nominated Kadagidze as a candidate for the head of the Georgian Supreme Court on March 10.
The former head of the Supreme Court Nino Gvenetadze resigned in August 2018 as she said due to health issues.
The Georgian parliament approved 14 of total 19 candidates for lifelong judges of the Georgian Supreme Court in December 2019 amid protests of the opposition and civic groups.
Kadagidze were among those approved.
The Georgian High Council of Justice has nominated Nino Kadagidze as a candidate for the head of Georgian Supreme Court, while the opposition expected former Chief Prosecutor Shalva Tadumadze in the role.
The report reads that the final plenary vote on the judicial appointments took place amidst a political crisis, a boycott by the opposition, and widespread calls for an adjournment.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its opinion on the draft amendments to the election code of Georgia that "the choice of the electoral system is a sovereign decision of the state, so long as the chosen electoral system is consistent with the state’s obligations under international law. International standards do not prescribe the choice of electoral systems".
The OSCE leadership has expressed readiness to provide further support for Georgian democratic reforms and to help the country refine its election legislation, the Parliament of Georgia press office says.
PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern have urged the Georgian authorities to request a Venice Commission opinion on the proposed amendments to the law on the Common Courts for appointing Supreme Court judges.
Peter Stano, a lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU, says that it is regrettable the Georgian parliament did not wait for the recommendations of the Venice Commission on the selection of the Supreme Court judges and adopted related amendments earlier this year, on September 30.
PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern have expressed their regret yesterday that the Georgian parliament ‘did not wait’ for the Venice Commission’s opinion before the adoption of the amendments for the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
Supreme Court chair Nino Kadagidze has been elected as the head of Georgia’s High Council of Justice, an independent body which is responsible for the selection and appointment of judges and other legal issues.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) says the shortcomings in the process of judicial nominations to Georgia’s Supreme Court put the independence of the judiciary in the country at further risk, despite some recent improvements to the transparency and accountability of the process.