EU, US say parliament's failure to approve amendment on prosecutor general ‘yet another broken promise’
The US and the EU call on all parties to redouble their efforts to work together in parliament to implement key reforms to the judicial system.
Tweet 
Share
The United States Embassy and the European Union delegation to Georgia have denounced the parliament’s failure to approve constitutional amendments aimed to ensure ‘broad, multi-party support for an impartial prosecutor general’.
This, the US Embassy says, is ‘another missed opportunity to increase the independence, transparency and integrity of Georgia’s judiciary’.
We take note of opposition leaders’ comments that they were unable to support this important amendment to the Prosecutor General appointment process in order to retain the ruling party’s votes for the other important Constitutional amendments called for in the April 19 Agreement, which pertain to fully proportional elections, a two percent threshold, and factions”, the statement of the US embassy reads.
Georgian Dream’s refusal to support the Prosecutor General amendment contradicts the party’s July 28 reiteration of its commitment to implement the judicial reforms and adopt the Constitutional amendments laid out in the April 19 Agreement. This is yet another broken promise by the ruling party to make the much-needed judicial reforms that Georgian Dream and opposition party leaders have pledged, of their own accord, to adopt”, it also adds.
Read the full statement of the US embassy:
U.S. Embassy Statement on Parliament’s First Reading of Post-April 19 Agreement Constitutional Amendments https://t.co/yPXzvlDalQ
— U.S. Embassy Tbilisi (@usingeo) September 7, 2021
Noting that ‘the people of Georgia deserve an impartial, independent judiciary that is not used for political purposes’, the US embassy says that ‘with an impartial judicial system, the public can have confidence that election results will be upheld fairly, business disputes will be resolved without favoritism, and political opponents will not be targeted unjustly for prosecution’.
Those qualified professionals in the Prosecutor’s Office, and the court system more broadly, should be allowed to uphold the law without political pressure. The Constitutional amendment reforming the appointment process for the Prosecutor General would have been an important step toward that goal”, the statement further reads.
Ambassador Carl Hartzell has also noted that by withdrawing the amendment, the EU ‘regrets that yet another commitment to reform the judiciary was not upheld today’.
This amendment was due to address the way in which the Prosecutor General of Georgia is appointed, with the ambition to increase the required majority to a qualified majority, in order to ensure the broadest, cross-party support for appointments and to reduce the risk that one party can, alone, appoint a Prosecutor General in the future”, Hartzell said.
Carl Hartzell has also tweeted:
My remarks following the Parliament’s withdrawal today from the constitutional amendment on an improved appointment procedure for the Prosecutor General
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) September 7, 2021
➡️ https://t.co/1gZHVtKMuT pic.twitter.com/0Dc1B8agiq
Ambassador Hartzell has further stated that 'while the European Union remains fully committed to support Georgia’s reforms in line with the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, the EU’s assistance to Georgia remains conditional on progress on key reforms'.
The US and the EU call on all parties to redouble their efforts to work together in parliament to implement key reforms to the judicial system.
Civil activists are protesting the adoption of an amnesty bill by the Georgian parliament stipulated by the April 19 EU-mediated agreement for the June 2019 protests that were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament. Georgian parliament adopted the bill earlier today with 79 votes in favour and 15 votes against it.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, MP Irakli Kobakhidze has reminded the parliamentary opposition that constitutional amendments related to electoral and other issues are a result of the party’s goodwill as the GD has withdrawn from the EU-mediated agreement.The agreement signed by the ruling party and the majority of opposition parties on April 19, 2021 obliged the signatories to carry out large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has thanked US congressmen for their support of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations at a meeting earlier today, the Georgian government administration reports. Five US Congressmen – Bryan George Steil, Carol Devine Miller, Alex Mooney, Ronald Jean Estes and Kelly Michael Armstrong – have arrived in Georgia today and their visit will last till September 9. The US support for strengthening institutions in Georgia, increasing defence capabilities, and democratic reforms were on the agenda of the meeting.
European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell calls on the de facto authorities in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali and the Russian Federation to allow for the reopening of all crossing points’ at the occupation line.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze has responded to the criticism of the EU and US embassies on the removal of a stipulation from constitutional amendments on the election rule of Georgia's prosecutor general. Kobakhidze stated that the stipulation was ‘legal nonsense,’ noting that the US and EU ambassadors ‘are likely not to have had’ proper and correct consultations around the issue.