On 16 July, the US Department of State stated that it was “deeply troubled” with the appointment of 6 judges to Georgia's Supreme Court (Caucasus Watch reported). 

“Mediated by the EU and the United States under the auspices of European Council President Charles Michel, the 19 April agreement committed the signatories to pause ‘all ongoing appointments’ to the Supreme Court until passage of ‘ambitious judicial reform’ in a broad, inclusive, and multiparty reform process. We urge Georgia’s authorities to implement the 19 April agreement, including by suspending Supreme Court appointments pending comprehensive, transparent, and inclusive judicial reform.  This is what Georgia’s political leaders, including the ruling party, agreed to do,” the State Department statement read.

“Failure to do so would further undermine the Georgian public’s and international community’s confidence in Georgia’s judiciary and risk undermining Georgia’s democratic development.  Incomplete implementation of the April 19 agreement could also weaken investor confidence and diminish the resilience of Georgia’s political and social institutions. The United States calls on Georgian authorities to restore their commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law while reinvigorating their partnership with the United States and international community,” it added. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken deemed the judicial reform in the country as “critical” to Georgia’s success. 

The US ambassador to the country Kelly Degnan also commented on the statement from the US authorities, saying that were not made in haste. “These are messages of concern from Georgia’s strategic partner that should be taken very seriously,” she emphasised. Degnan also spoke on possible sanctions to Georgia from the US authorities. “Sanctions are one of the many tools that are available. You have seen in the statements issued by the United States Embassy, by the US Department of State, by the US Secretary of State that we are deeply disappointed that this process went through after many engagements that we urged to pause. Georgia’s political leaders, including the ruling party, agreed that these appointments would be paused until a broad, inclusive, multiparty judicial reform. That has not yet happened. And that is why we are very disappointed that these judges were appointed,” she added. 

The members of the ruling Georgian Dream party responded to the statement of the US officials by saying that the conditions of the EU-mediated agreement were fulfilled. “We would like to express our deep respect for the Secretary of State and, in agreement with the party’s political team, we would like to clarify once again the motive for the relevant decision of the parliamentary majority. As the public is aware, in March 2021, there were active negotiations around the content of the 19 April agreement. We – Irakli Kobakhidze, Archil Talakvadze and Shalva Papuashvili personally agreed to the points related to the selection of Supreme Court judges with international partners. In particular, according to the agreement, the ongoing process of selecting Supreme Court judges was to be ‘paused,’ the selection procedure was to be revised in accordance with the key recommendations of the Venice Commission, additional candidates were to be allowed to submit applications on the basis of the amended law and only then the selection process was to be continued. During the negotiations, it was emphasised that in case of acting in accordance with the above agreement, the ongoing process of selection of judges would no longer be meaningless and the existing composition of the High Council of Justice would be given the opportunity to complete the procedure!” the statement of the three GD deputies read.

“Although the Parliament of Georgia had already fulfilled all the conditions stipulated in the draft political agreement by 19 April, the text published on 31 March remained unchanged in the agreement signed on 19 April. Georgian Dream informed its international partners about these and other similar circumstances, and we requested that they sign the 19 April agreement without additional amendments, so that the amendments would not cause additional political complications, and the inaccuracies in the document would be clarified during the implementation process. Thus, all the conditions of the political agreement were strictly fulfilled: the government ‘refrained’ from appointing judges of the Supreme Court in accordance with the old rules; in accordance with the recommendation agreed with international partners, the High Council of Justice ‘paused’ the interview process; Parliament passed a law outlining all three key recommendations of the Venice Commission; the new law also allowed additional candidates to participate in the application and selection process,” the statement further read. “It is worrying that due to the unscrupulous actions of individual officials, the structures of our main strategic partner country are being provided with distorted information about the implementation of the political agreement. Such actions threaten any dialogue that may take place in the future around various domestic issues,” the statement underscored. 

Earlier the EU also warned the Georgian authorities that the appointment of judges could negatively affect the release of the second tranche of EU financial assistance to the country (Caucasus Watch reported).