GD Releases Statement about Lifetime Appointment of Judges

Ruling Georgian Dream (GD) has released a statement regarding the controversial issue of the lifetime appointment of judges.

The party says the development of the procedures and criteria for the selection of candidates for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court, with the broad involvement of the parties concerned, has begun.

The issue became controversial after the High Council of Justice nominated 10 candidate judges for the Supreme Court of Georgia for life tenure. The list was rejected by the non-judge members of the HCOJ, NGOs and some members of the majority, who claimed that the presented judges were working during the previous government too and had the reputation of being “biased and corrupt”.

Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze said the discussions on the issue had been postponed until spring, adding that Parliament will define new procedures and criteria for nominating and electing judges, followed by the HCOJ endorsing an updated list of judges based on maximally open and transparent procedures.

“It was pledged that candidates would occupy positions of judges of the Supreme Court on the basis of objective criteria and as a result of an individual and free vote. The High Council of Justice will definitely select Supreme Court judges on the basis of an open and transparent procedure. They will be elected on the basis of an equally open and transparent procedure in the Georgian Parliament,” the statement of the ruling party reads.

The GD statement also mentions the initiative of a group of majority MPs, who submitted a legislative initiative to Parliament asking for the suspension of the appointment of judges for life tenure in the first and second instances of courts.

“Without coordination with their own team, individual members of the parliamentary majority prepared a draft law that definitely runs contrary to the provisions of the Georgian Constitution in force, developed in order to ensure the independence of courts in accordance with recommendations of the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission,” the statement reads.

The party believes that if the mentioned initiative is adopted in the current form, the number of judges in courts of general jurisdiction is going to halve and the problem of overburdened courts and delays in case hearings is going to deepen.

“In conditions, where according to conclusions of our international partners, the number of judges in Georgia needs to be increased at least by a 100 and at best doubled, halving of the number of judges will create grave problems in the judiciary system and may even paralyze it. Given the aforementioned, it is clear that this draft law cannot receive support from the parliamentary majority,” the GD declared.

However, the party expressed full readiness to develop proposals for the lifelong appointment of judges in line with the Georgian constitution and recommendations of the Council of Europe on the basis of consultations with the parties concerned, proposals that will not aggravate the problem of overburdened courts.

“The ruling team continues to work on the fourth wave of the judiciary reform. A broad spectrum of parties concerned are involved in the working process, including our international partners - the Office of the Council of Europe, the US Embassy, and representatives of the EU and German and the international organizations,” the statement reads.

By Thea Morrison

Related stories:

Beselia to Collect Signatures to Accelerate Abolition of Lifetime Tenure of Judges

Supreme Court Candidate Judges Release Statement

Ombudsman Criticizes Process of Selecting Judges

Non-Judge Members of High Council of Justice Address Parliament

Legal Issues Committee Rejects Bill on Suspension of Life Tenure of Judges