US DoS calls on Georgian gov’t to suspend appointment of judges to Supreme Court
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan noted earlier today that the message from the US State Department should be taken very seriously. Photo: Win Mcnamme/Getty Images.
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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 parliament of Georgia appointed six judges out of nine candidates to the country’s Supreme Court on July 12, with the low involvement of opposition parties in the voting process and despite calls for a moratorium from NGOs, the international community and the opposition.
The United States is deeply troubled by the Georgian Parliament’s July 12 approval of six Supreme Court nominees, in contravention of the April 19 agreement between ruling and opposition party representatives,” reads the statement.
US State Secretary Antony J. Blinken has also tweeted on the ongoing process:
The United States is deeply troubled by the Georgian Parliament’s approval of Supreme Court nominees in contravention of the April 19 agreement. Ambitious judicial reform is critical to Georgia's success.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 16, 2021
US State Department reminded the Georgian authorities that the EU-mediated agreement committed its signatories to pause ‘all ongoing appointment to Supreme Court until passage of ambitious judicial reform in a broad, inclusive, and multiparty reform process.’
We [US State Department] urge Georgia’s authorities to implement the April 19 agreement, including by suspending Supreme Court appointments pending comprehensive, transparent, and inclusive judicial reform. This is what Georgia’s political leaders, including the ruling party, agreed to do,” US State Department stated.
The statement also warns the government of Georgia that the failure to implement the April 19 agreement will undermine the Georgian public’s and international community’s confidence in the country’s democratic development and ‘could also weaken investor confidence and diminish the resilience of Georgia’s political and social institutions.’
The United States calls on Georgian authorities to restore their commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law while reinvigorating their partnership with the United States and international community,” said the statement.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan noted earlier today that the message from the US State Department should be taken very seriously.
Political leaders, including the ruling party, agreed that the process had to be suspended before inclusive, multi-party judicial reform could take place. It did not happen. And that is why we are so disappointed that judges have been appointed. Parliament could have stopped the process, but it did not,” said Kelly Degnan.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules Irakli Kadagishvili responded to the statement of the US State Department and noted that during the judicial reform they fully took into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
We need the court to be functioning and not to have about three hundred cases hang on a per judge in the Supreme Court,” Kadagishvili said.
First Deputy of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules Guram Macharashvili underscored that the Georgian government has an obligation toward the constitutional bodies to staff the Supreme Court.
Our partners are naturally interested in the development of all institutions, their recommendations are understandable...I would like to remind the opposition that the United States and our western partners have repeatedly expressed concern about the opposition, which did not fulfil its function in the parliament and the United National Movement (opposition party), by the way, has not yet signed the April 19 agreement,” said Macharashvili
The US Embassy to Georgia has also responded to the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court by the Georgian parliament and called it ‘extremely disappointing.’
NGOs claimed that the ruling party does not want the independence of the judiciary following the process of appointment.
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 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.
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.
Georgian judges have released a joint statement in which they condemn what they say is a ‘politically motivated and unhealthy process which aims to discredit the Georgian judiciary.’ The letter by 310 judges comes in response to statements from the opposition, NGOs and foreign embassies which call for a moratorium on the election of new judges to the Georgian Supreme Court and the High Council of Justice (HCJ) until the ‘full implementation’ of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement.
The US Embassy to Georgia has posted the highlighted text of the April 19 EU-mediated agreement between Georgian political parties to counter the position of the ruling Georgian Dream party that the parliament should continue the election of new judges in the Georgian Supreme Court.
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.
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.
“We are a sovereign and independent state. We are doing everything, and we are a distinguished star among the EU Eastern Partnership states, with our reforms, achievements”, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has told journalists today. In his comments he has assessed recent political developments in Georgia, country's EU aspirations, media freedom in Georgia, relations with US and recent appointment of Supreme Court judges.
Civil society and media organisations of Georgia have published an open letter to President of the European Council Charles Michel today in which they urge him to continue 'your close engagement with Georgia’s leadership and speak publicly against democratic setbacks, and work with Georgia’s civil society to ensure the country’s progress on the path to the Euro-Atlantic integration'.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with European Council President Charles Michel, who is visiting Georgia for the 17th International Conference - Georgia’s European Way and stated that Georgia remains a loyal ally of the EU.
Former member of the High Council of Justice Dimitri Gvritishvili has withdrawn his candidacy for a spot on the Supreme Court following the recent appointment of six judges which was harshly criticised by the opposition, NGOs and the diplomatic corps.
Business and investment conditions are sound in Georgia, however, there is an increasing lack of confidence in the judicial sector’s ability to adjudicate commercial cases independently or in a timely, competent manner, read the 2021 Investment Climate Statements about Georgia published by the US Department of State.
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.