Controversy continues in the judiciary system
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, January 6
The Chair of the Supreme Court, Nino Gvenetadze, and members of the High Council of Justice held a meeting with the Head of the Civil Court of Tbilisi, Mamuka Akhvlediani, on January 4.
The main issue of the meeting, held at the City Court, was the statements of Akhvlediani made on December 29 2015, when he stated that that appointment of some judges is based on deals and personal relationships.
He also said that Gvenetadze and the High Council were incompetent and demanded their dismissal. Moreover, he spoke about the failure of justice reforms and said that his colleagues were of the same opinion.
The meeting held in the City Court on January 4 lasted more than three hours and was closed to the media.
According to Nino Gvenetadze they heard explanations from Mamuka Akhvlediani about his statements and listened to the opinions of the High Council as well as Court Corps.
“Akhvlediani expressed his opinion about many issues. He said that he is not satisfied with the criteria of the appointment of judges and noted that these criteria should be more transparent. However, it became clear that these opinions are only his views and they are not the position of the Civil Court judges,” said Gvenetadze.
The Head of Civil Court also made comments after the meeting. He said that there is a dangerous tendency for judges to avoid speaking openly about the problems in the judiciary.
Akhvlediani explains that the terms of 80% of Georgia’s judges expire in 2017, which is why they avoid speaking about the problems in the system.
“All the members of the Council were of the same opinion and it looked like pre-defined roles, which reminds me that I was probably right when making such statements," claimed Akhvlediani.
When asked whether the process is moving closer to his early leave, he said that "there are some signs".
It should be noted that the High Council of Justice has started the selection of the Appeal Judges in the beginning of December 2015.
There were 61 vacant seats in total and the competition consisted of two stages: the collection of documentation about specific candidates and interviews with the candidates.
