The US Embassy Issues a Statement on the Appointment of Supreme Court Judges
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, November 29
The US Embassy to Georgia has issued a special statement regarding the appointment of Supreme Court judges in Georgia. The statement notes that the US Embassy is disappointed that Parliament is once again moving forward with the Supreme Court appointments before it has completed the impendant assessment of the previous waves of judicial reform.
The statement also reads that the Parliament of Georgia and its leaders had previously agreed to do so. The US Embassy in Georgia is also concerned that these activities are proceeding without the participation of the judges of the High Council of Judges.
The statement of the US Embassy also notes that while the High Council and the Parliament have rushed to appoint the judges in the supreme court over the past few years, there has not been any activity in the non-judge appointments, although the positions have been vacant for several months.
The statement of the US Embassy also notes that the people of Georgia are supposed to have power and voice in the process of selection of these influential and important judges, who are being appointed for a lifetime on the Supreme Court and these power and voice should be given to the people through the non-judge High Council members.
“The exclusion of independent voices from this process adds to the impression that Supreme Court judicial appointments are being made without meaningful transparency, accountability, or impartiality,” reads the statement of the US Embassy.
The Embassy of the United States to Georgia has once again encouraged and called on the Parliament to prioritize the appointment of impartial, independent, and non-judge members to the High Council of Justice before going forward with further Supreme Court judge appointments. The statement also calls on the Parliament to finish the independent assessment of the previous waves of reform by Spring 2022.
“Important work has been done since independence to strengthen Georgia’s judicial branch, with the assistance of the United States and others. Georgia’s closest partners and supporters, as well as Georgia’s political leaders, are united in agreeing that judicial reform needs to continue,” noted the statement of the US Embassy.
According to the US Embassy, the current goal of the parliament now should be to build an impartial, transparent, and merit-based judicial system to ensure full confidence in the judicial system of the Georgian people.
During the hearings in the parliament, one of the candidates, Nino Sandodze denied the existence of the so-called 'clan', both now and during the previous government. The judge believes that there are ‘targeted actions’ in Georgia aimed at “reducing the legitimacy of the judiciary in the long run.”
The process of selecting judges of the Supreme Court is underway in a question-and-answer mode in the Parliamentary Committee.
Most of the parliamentary opposition is not involved in the process, the Public Defender's Office and the diplomatic corps are not involved either. EU Ambassador H.E. Carl Hartzell said on November 25 that the process of appointing judges should be ‘paused’ before further steps are taken in judicial reform.
International partners and civil society still believe that the process needs to take full account of international recommendations, as well as reform the High Council of Justice.
