In Tbilisi, protesters criticise list of candidates for judges of Supreme Court

On September 23, at a protest action in Tbilisi, independent lawyers spoke out against consideration at the parliament of a list of candidates for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court (SC). The selection of candidates was carried out on a clan (family) basis, the protestors say.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 2, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili signed the updated Law "On General Courts", adopted the previous days by Georgian MPs, despite the criticism from the opposition and the Venice Commission. The High Council of Justice of Georgia identified 20 candidates for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court.

In the morning on September 23, up to 20 independent lawyers gathered for a rally in front of the parliament building. They spoke out against the start of consideration of the list of candidates for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court to be appointed for unlimited terms.

The High Council of Justice, which compiled a list of candidates for the positions of judges at the Supreme Court, prepared it on the basis of "a clan rule in the judiciary" and put in it the judges loyal to the government, organizers of the protest action believe.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 24, 2019 at 10:02 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.