OSCE/ODIHR: Nomination of judges to Georgia’s highest court still marked by shortcomings despite recent improvements
ODIHR continues to follow the appointment process, and will sum up its overall findings and recommendations in a final report. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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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.
ODIHR, which is monitoring the nomination and appointment of 11 Supreme Court judges upon the request of Public Defender Nino Lomjaria, issued its third report yesterday.
A transparent, fair and credible system for selecting judges is fundamental to judicial independence in every country… There was a lack of clear standards and guidelines during this selection process, negatively impacting the equal opportunity of all candidates to succeed”, ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci says.
The report identifies a number of weaknesses in the nomination process over the last six months, noting that legislative changes made during three overlapping appointment processes for 11 seats on the Supreme Court have called their fairness and equality into question.
It says that the hearings continued to be held ‘even after parliament failed to provide a formal legal basis’ for the High Council of Justice (HCoJ) - an independent body responsible for unbiased judiciary - ‘to halt its nomination process for pending vacancies in line with a political agreement reached earlier this year’.
The assessment notes concerns both about the effectiveness of the procedures and equal treatment that arose during the nomination process.
Although national legislation provides clear mechanisms to avoid conflicts of interest in the appointment of Supreme Court judges, ODIHR also reports on ‘significant breaches of standards that could undermine both judicial independence and public trust’.
ODIHR has been monitoring the process of nomination and appointment of Supreme Court judges since 2019 to support the national authorities’ efforts to strengthen judicial independence and the rule of law in Georgia.
Its monitoring assesses the compliance of the judicial nomination procedure with national legislation, as well as with international standards and good practices.
ODIHR continues to follow the appointment process, and will sum up its overall findings and recommendations in a final report.
The ruling party, which supports the election of new judges, says that the Supreme Court is in ‘desperate need’ of new judges because of ‘loads of work’ and that the state legislature adopted major court amendments prior to the EU-mediated agreement which were approved by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
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 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 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 Georgian parliament has approved 14 of total 19 candidates for lifelong judges of the Georgian Supreme Court amid protests of the opposition and civic groups. Prosecutor General Shalva Tadumadze, his deputy Mamuka Vasadze and Secretary of Georgia’s High Council of Justice Giorgi Mikautadze are among those approved.
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.
The US Embassy to Georgia has stated that the appointment of judges to the country’s Supreme Court is ‘extremely disappointing,’ noting that Georgian leaders, including the ruling Georgian Dream party, failed to fulfil the obligation under the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which ended months of political standoff. The Georgian parliament appointed six judges out of nine candidates to the country’s Supreme Court on July 12, despite calls from the international community, NGOs and opposition to place a moratorium on the process.
The US State Department has called on the Georgian government to suspend the process of the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, urging the authorities to implement the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which ended months of a political standoff caused by the parliamentary elections of 2020. The US State Department says that ‘comprehensive, transparent, and inclusive judicial reform’ must be carried out before the process can continue.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jim Risch has expressed his disappointment over violent attacks on journalists at the Tbilisi Pride counter rally on July 5 and the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court ‘in contravention of the EU-mediated agreement.’ Risch spoke about the physical assault of 53 journalists by right-wing protesters of the Tbilisi Pride march counter rally in the country’s capital and the death of TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava.