Ombudswoman refuses to participate in parliamentary procedures for Supreme Court candidates
Georgian Public Defender says that the approval of new judges to the country’s Supreme Court by the parliament will strengthen the ‘clan rule’ of the court system. Photo: Public Defender’s press office.
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Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has stated that she will not participate in screening of candidates for judges to the country’s Supreme Court in the state legislature.
The Georgian parliament has plans to launch procedures for the vote of nine candidates for the Georgian Supreme Court who were presented by the country’s High Council of Justice (HCJ) on June 17, 2021.
Lomjaria says that she is not participating in the parliamentary procedures for the candidates until the HCJ, the body which selects and appoints judges around the country, is ‘fundamentally reformed’ and the ‘clan rule’ of the country’s court system is completed.
In issuing the statement Lomjaria joined the calls of the country’s international partners, local NGOs and the opposition for moratorium on election of new members in HCJ and to the Supreme Court until the implementation of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement.
- US Ambassador Degnan: Georgian parliament has power to pause election of judges
- Georgian judges condemn ‘politically motivated, unhealthy process’ against them
@Ombudsman_Geo will not participate in in process of screening of judicial candidates at @Geoparliament ❗️ https://t.co/TlCc3AdLCP
— Giorgi BURJANADZE (@GeorgeBurj) June 30, 2021
The agreement which was proposed by the European Council President Charles Michel and was signed by the majority of Georgian parties to resolve the six-month political crisis in Georgia obliges the signatories to ensure the conduct of large-scale electoral and judicial reforms.
Lomjaria says that if the parliament approves new judges for the Supreme Court before the implementation of fundamental judicial reforms, it will reinforce ‘clan rule’ of the court system.
She said that the parliament ignored the views of the Public Defender’s Office, OSCE/ODIHR and local NGOs back in 2019 on election procedures of Supreme Court judges which led to the approval of 14 new judges to the Supreme Court.
- US Ambassador Degnan: appointment of judges to Supreme Court must be stopped until adoption of reforms
- EU, US ambassadors in Georgia support moratorium on election of judges
Some of the 14 judges were beyond the minimal limit of their professional competences,” Lomjaria said.
Ruling party MP Anri Okhanashvili says that Lomjaria has refused to fulfil her obligation. Photo: parliament of Georgia press office.
Ruling party MP Anri Okhanashvili has criticized Lomjaria for the position and said that ‘her decision would be surprising to all her foreign colleagues.’
It is not Lomjaria’s right, it is her responsibility to exercise control on the very transparent process,” Okhanashvili said.
He stated that Lomjaria will not be able to name any recommendations (by OSCE/ODIHR) that were ignored by the state legislature.
The ruling party has stated earlier that the parliament should vote on new candidates for the Supreme Court because major judicial reforms were carried out before they and opposition parties signed the EU-mediated agreement.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan says that the Georgian parliament has the power to temporarily suspend the election of new judges to the country’s Supreme Court.
The ruling party says that it supports appointing of judges to the country’s supreme court despite calls from the opposition to place a moratorium on the process. Chair of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze said earlier today that the process would not be paused because the party has already fulfilled several conditions stipulated by the agreement between the opposition and the ruling party.
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 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.
Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) has joined several parliamentary opposition parties and the ombudswoman and has refused to participate in the screening of candidates for judges to the country’s Supreme Court in the state legislature.
The Georgian parliament has appointed six judges to the country’s Supreme Court, despite calls from the opposition, NGOs and the international community to suspend the process in compliance with the EU-mediated agreement which put an end to six months of political tension over the country’s October 2020 parliamentary elections. Parliament made the decision at today’s session, which was delayed after opposition activists and NGO representatives entered parliament and occupied the speaker’s seat, demanding the resignation of PM Garibashvili.
NGOs have claimed that the ruling Georgian Dream party does not want the independence of the judiciary, following the appointment of six judges to the Supreme Court by the Georgian parliament yesterday, despite the calls from opposition, NGOs and the international community to place a moratorium on the process, in line with the EU-mediated agreement, which ended the political standoff caused by the parliamentary elections of October 2020.
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.