Public Defender says examples of judge “vetting” in countries “requires more argumentation”

Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani on Thursday said foreign examples of “vetting” of judges in countries by foreign entities “requires more argumentation” after the opposition United National Movement party called for introduction of tests of integrity for domestic judges.

Ioseliani noted a decision on introduction of the vetting system should be taken “within the Georgian legislative framework”.

“[A]ll decisions must be within the legal framework that exists in Georgia. It should be in accordance with the constitution of Georgia”, he said.

In my opinion, the examples given of the vetting system in other countries need more argumentation. On the one hand, it is necessary to study the results achieved there, on the other hand [it also needs to be considered] to what extent it is consistent with our constitution, legislation and how it is possible to implement such a type of the vetting system in Georgia”, he continued.

The Public Defender specifically noted the Albanian model of the system by saying it had “caused more problems”, and further pointed out that “now it is better to study all this in relation to other countries”.