Supreme Court of Georgia

Georgian Judiciary Opposed to the Appointment of Judges on the Three-year Probationary Period

Published: 10/08/2013

Georgian Judiciary and the High Council of Justice evaluate appointment of judges on the three-year probationary period as the step against the independence of the judiciary.

The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia Mr. Konstantin Kublashvili stated on the briefing for mass media: “On behalf of the Judiciary and the High Council of Justice I would like to express the opinion on the Law the Parliament adopted recently that establishes the appointment of the judges on the three -year probation period. This would be a serious threat to the independence of our judiciary. The Parliament also established that the judges, who at the present time are appointed for a term of ten years, in case if they are appointed again, they will be also re-appointed for the three-year probation period . It is totally groundless and unjustified to appoint a judge for the three-year probation period, who executed justice for ten years. The Parliament decision exposes the independence of a judge to the serious threat”.

The Chairman of the Supreme Court also noted that the Judiciary is ready to participate in determining the criteria by which the judges will be monitored during the probation period.

“It was a mistake of the previous government when it allowed the possibility of using the probation period and now todays Parliament turned this mistake into the obligation, when it adopted the law on appointment of judges on the three-year probation period. This is serious mistake, that is acknowledged as by the non- governmental sector, as the competent international organizations”, - stated the Chairman of the Supreme Court at the briefing.