19 April 2019, 09:40
Bill on judges considered in Georgia amid opposition protests
The "Georgian Dream" Party decided to take into account, in the draft law on the appointment of judges, only two recommendations of the Venice Commission, treated the rest of them to be political. This displeased the opposition, whose activists held a protest march during the sitting of the parliament.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Venice Commission had given its evaluation of the amendments that the ruling "Georgian Dream" Party made to the bill in relation to the selection criteria of SC Judges.
The issue of electing SC Judges became particularly acute in Georgia since December 2018. Ekaterina Beseliya, the chair of the legal committee of the Georgian parliament, resigned, declaring a non-transparent procedure of selection of candidates for the post of the SC Chair.
Elene Khoshtariya, an MP from the "European Georgia" Party, said on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company that with the permission of the authorities, the judiciary is controlled by a small group of people.
In her turn, Nino Goguadze, one of the leaders of the non-parliamentary "Free Democrats" Party, said that in Georgia all decisions are made "at the whim of one person," referring to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the "Georgian Dream" Party.
The ruling party has agreed to establish the principles for the selection of candidates for judges under public pressure, but this will not change the situation, political analysts believe. About half of the respondents of a social polling pointed to the corruption of Georgian authorities and treated their country as undemocratic.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 18, 2019 at 09:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Inna Kukudjanova, Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondents
