GYLA: clan rule of Georgia’s High Council of Justice remains a major challenge

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. 

In its ninth monitoring report of HCJ GYLA says that the current regulation of selection of members for the High Council of Justice ‘benefits the clan.’

The report says that the ‘clan’ exercises control on the two/third of votes in the HCJ which is sufficient to make decisions and appoint their favorite candidates in top judiciar positions. 

One of the major levers of the clan power is that their favorite candidates always take top positions in the court system,” says GYLA. 

• EU, US ambassadors in Georgia support moratorium on election of judges

Despite the calls of the international community on the HCJ to pause the election of its new members, as well as candidates for the country’s Supreme Court, the High Council of Justice has recently elected its four of 15 new members and selected candidates for the Supreme Court. 

• High Council of Justice selects candidates for Supreme Court despite calls for moratorium

The EU and the US embassies have expressed their dissatisfaction towards the decision and called upon the HJO once again to wait for the implementation of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which proposes large-scale judiciary reforms in Georgia.