High Council of Justice Grilled Again for Appointing of Controversial Judge for Life

By Gvantsa Gabekhadze

Monday, December 31

Levan Murusidze has been appointed for life in the Court of Appeals.

Murusidze was a judge of the high-profile murder case of Sandro Girgvliani in 2006.

The High Council of Justice, an independent body which is responsible for the appointment of judges, has once again received a backlash for appointing of one of the most controversial judges Levan Murusidze as the judge of Court of Appeals for life.

The council was grilled by its several members, the civil sector and leading figures of the Georgian Dream ruling party.

Tamar Chugoshvili, Vice Parliament Speaker actually stated that the decision looked like an act of revenge from the side of the council after the parliament decided to postpone the confirmation of 10 judges offered by HCJ for Supreme Court.

Two members of the council Nazi Janezashvili and Anna Dolidze voted against Murusidze and one ballot paper was annulled, all the other 12 members of the council supported Murusidze in the role.

Dolidze and Janezashvili say that the HCJ continue to make “shameful and deadly” decisions for the Georgian court system.

They say that Murusidze is a member of the “clam of judges”, who were involved in the politically motivated cases and whose names are related with the biased judiciary.

“The clan is running the Georgian court system currently,” the two say.

Murusidze claims that he is a victim of a black PR stunt and that his decision under the United National Movement when he decreased prison terms for murderers of Sandro Girgvliani, a victim of a high-profile murder case, was within the law.

He dismisses the existence of any clan in the court.

The Georgian civil sector and several members of the Georgian Dream ruling party support the view that changes must be provided for the selection process of judges.

Last week the HCJ presented 10 candidates for the Supreme Court of Georgia to be appointed for a lifetime.

However, after the large-scale criticism of the public regarding several names on the list and their past activities, the parliament postponed the discussion process of the list until the spring session.