EU Commission says failure to pause appointment of Supreme Court judges could affect financial assistance to Georgia
Lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU Peter Stano noted that the appointment of judges goes ‘against key provisions of the April 19 Agreement.’ Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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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.
Revising the selection process of Supreme Court judges in line with Venice Commission recommendations before proceeding with appointments, is also a mutually agreed condition for the disbursement of the second tranche of EU macro-financial assistance to Georgia under its current programme, which could be negatively affected by this step,” lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU Peter Stano stated.
Georgia:Latest Supreme Court appointments R against @osce_odihr, @VeniceComm recommendations, #AprilAgreement & macro-financial assistance conditions. It is missed opportunity 2prove commitment 2genuine reforms of judiciary ????can have only negative impact https://t.co/zv111BPbdS
— Peter Stano (@ExtSpoxEU) July 14, 2021
Peter Stano also noted that the appointment of judges goes ‘against key provisions of the April 19 Agreement.’
The appointments go against key provisions of the April 19 agreement to pause all ongoing appointments, comply fully with all recommendations made by the Venice Commission, and overall to increase the independence, accountability and quality of the justice system in a broad, inclusive and cross-party reform process,” Stano said.
He assessed the process as a missed opportunity for the Georgian government ‘to prove their commitment to a genuine and comprehensive reform of the judiciary.’
The EU is open to further talks at the highest levels to discuss justice reform and the way ahead following these developments, notably in the context of the April 19 Agreement and decisions regarding EU macro-financial assistance to Georgia,” the statement said.
Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Mikheil Sarjveladze, who was First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia in 2018-2020, says ‘there is no precondition that could threaten the cessation of EU assistance.’
There is no risk that we will be in any conflict with the preconditions of the second tranche of the budget assistance or with any of the provisions of the Charles Michel document. If you pay attention, there is a willingness to negotiate and consult,” Sarjveladze said.
Ruling party member Rati Ionatamishvili also responded to the statement of the EU commission and said that the EU-mediated agreement stated ‘to pause the process of appointing judges and not to abolish it.’
We stopped this process, we waited for various political entities to enter the parliament, we have also given the force of law to the recommendations of the Venice Commission and only after that resumed the process, which was as transparent and inclusive as possible,” noted Ionatamishvili.
The majority of the opposition MPs did not take part in the voting process on Monday.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
Deputy head of EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) Luke Pierre Devin has disapproved of the recent election of four new members in the Georgian High Council of Justice, the body which selects and appoints judges in the country.
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.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says all conditions of the EU-mediated agreement ending months of political standoff in April 2021 have been fulfilled amid the US State Department’s criticism over the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court. The agreement had called for a moratorium on the appointment of judges before the implementation of wide-scale judicial reforms.