Political wrangling compromises the independence of appointments to Georgia’s highest court, ODIHR report finds
WARSAW, 9 January 2020 – While legal reforms regulating the appointment of Supreme Court judges in Georgia are an important step toward improving the independence of the judiciary, they fail to ensure an impartial process based on clearly defined and objective criteria without the influence of partisan politics, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its second monitoring report, published today.
The final plenary vote on the judicial appointments took place amidst a political crisis, a boycott by the opposition, and widespread calls for an adjournment. The decision to proceed in the current political environment further calls into question the sincerity of the authorities’ stated aim to have an open, transparent process that garners wide political support and builds public confidence in the judiciary.
“We were asked to undertake an independent assessment of the judicial appointments process in Georgia at a critical period in the country’s political development,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. “We identified numerous shortcomings on which I hope to be following up with the Georgian authorities in the near future. With our recommendations, we aim to contribute to improvements to the legal framework for judicial appointments, and above all the need for any decisions on the system to be taken in an atmosphere of collegiality and dialogue.”
Following the completion of the nomination process before the High Council of Justice (HCJ) and the finalization of the first report on the appointment process, ODIHR’s monitoring team went on to observe the hearings of the 20 HCJ nominees, the committee vote, and the final plenary vote. Despite some positive aspects, their overall assessment found that neither the HCJ nor the parliament took sufficient measures to ensure objectivity, fairness, or consistency during the selection process.
On the positive side, the hearings before the HCJ and parliament were generally open and transparent, and enabled public scrutiny of the candidates and the overall process. The parliament also invited representatives of key organizations involved, including the ombudsperson’s office, civil society, the legal community, and academia, all of whom positively contributed to the quality and openness of the hearings.
However, the fact that parliament played a decisive role in the judicial appointments, and likewise that the process was not safeguarded from partisan politics, was at odds with international good practice. The monitors noted that members of parliament from all sides of the political spectrum used the hearings as a political platform, and the interviews did not calm widespread concerns about the suitability of many of the candidates.
ODIHR began monitoring this process following a request from the Georgian ombudsperson. All monitors adhered strictly to the principle of impartiality, ensuring at the same time that they in no way interfered in the process itself. The work of the monitoring team started in June 2019 and included observation of the interviews of 49 candidates before the HCJ and 20 nominees in Legal Issues Committee. They also closely monitored the final voting sessions in the parliament in December 2019.