Georgian Prime Minister Responds to UK Sanctions on Judges
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, April 7, 2025
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze addressed the recent sanctions imposed by Great Britain on two Georgian judges, Levan Murusidze and Mikheil Chinchaladze. Speaking to reporters, Kobakhidze defended the independence of the Georgian judiciary.
"Our message is that today the court is independent and we will do everything to protect the independence of the court," Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze also pointed out that the individuals or groups behind the sanctions were the same forces that had protected the issues within the Georgian judiciary prior to 2012.
"I can remind you of what was happening in Georgia before 2012, specifically in the justice system, and how the system has changed since 2012," Kobakhidze stated. "I also talked about statistics, the statistics have improved twice, three times, in some cases 20 times. For example, in the Strasbourg Court, despite the fact that the legal culture has changed, the legal culture has been raised, three times fewer cases are being brought to the Strasbourg Court regarding Georgian justice. This is irrefutable evidence not only that the situation in the judicial system has radically improved since 2012, but it is also evidence that today the Georgian justice system is functioning healthily."
The Prime Minister also highlighted the improvement in the judicial system since 2012 and expressed that the criticism from certain forces regarding the current state of the judiciary was inconsistent with these changes.
"It is absolutely logical that, including in relation to British sanctions, those forces, or the force, the so-called Deep State, are engaged in all this, which had approved of all sorts of vices and ugliness in Georgian justice until 2012, and today they criticize the healthy judicial system. There is direct logic here - today, those who act on behalf of Britain, with the aim of violating the independence of the Georgian judiciary, were the same forces that until 2012 completely protected the ugliness that operated in the Georgian judiciary," Kobakhidze added.
