26 February 2008, 12:34
Meparishvili: problems in Georgian judiciary have reached culmination
In the opinion of lawyer Gia Meparishvili, deputy of the Parliament of Georgia, former General Public Prosecutor and Professor of the Tbilisi State University named after Ivane Dzhavakhishvili, the judicial system of Georgia is in a catastrophic condition.
According to the lawyer, 52 percent of lawsuits between the state and individuals end in favour of the latter. This can be regarded as a good result, since earlier almost in 100 percent of the cases the state was the winner.
"But where does this figure of 52 percent come from? It appears that it has evolved from the cases related to obtainment of information. As to the property disputes, and those connected with the state budget, individuals in fact never win," Mr Meparishvili has explained in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Later, Gia Meparishvili told about the main problems of the judiciary in Georgia:
"There are practically no acquittal verdicts. During the Soviet time, the share of such verdicts, say, from 1982 to 1989 varied from 1.4 to 2 percent, while today it makes 0.5 percent. <...> Making decisions on the basis of evidences only, without oral hearing of the parties is now in broad practice. Sometimes, at the appeal and cassation instances the decision is made by one judge only. <...> We have about 22,000 prisoners, and in such situation only extreme punishments are valid. Practically, the conditional imprisonment or home arrest are not applied. <...>
According to the Constitution of Georgia, the judge shall have guarantees of independence, but, unfortunately, it is not observed."
Author: Edita Badasian, CK correspondent
