EU official expresses disapproval of election of new members to Georgia’s High Council of Justice
Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin mentioned that there was not a proper trust to the Georgian High Council of Justice.
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Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin has disapproved of the recent election of four new members to the Georgian High Council of Justice, the body which selects and appoints judges in the country.
During the event organised by Euractiv yesterday - Georgia’s road to the EU: what is next? Devin stated that the election of the new members should be preceded by major judicial reforms in line with the EU-mediated agreement which was signed by the majority of Georgian political parties back in April 2021.
The election of the new members on May 26 took place amid a rally of civic activists and the calls of the US and the EU ambassadors to pause the process.
Earlier this week the ambassadors and opposition MPs urged for the postponement of the election of High Council of Justice members and judges of the Supreme Court to be postponed until the implementation of judicial reforms in line with the EU-mediated agreement.
The opposition stated that the High Council of Justice, which selects and appoints judges in the country, is ‘run by a clan of judges’ and ‘is biased.’
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.
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 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 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 High Council of Justice (HCJ), an independent body which selects and appoints judges around the country, has selected nine candidates for judge in the Supreme Court despite the calls of foreign diplomats and the opposition to pause the process.
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 appointment of judges to the Supreme Court by the Georgian High Council of Justice (HCJ) must be stopped temporarily until fundamental reforms are implemented in the judiciary and a wide discussion of the issue is held, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said earlier today at a conference of the International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED) on Digital Election Campaign and Information Manipulations in Georgia.
The EU Commission has announced that failure to pause the appointment of judges to Georgia’s Supreme Court, as provided for in a recent agreement mediated by the EU between the government and the opposition in April, could negatively affect the release of the second tranche of EU financial assistance to the country. Six judges were nominated to the Supreme Court by the Georgian parliament on Monday, despite calls from the international community, NGOs and opposition for the postponement of the process.