Carl Hartzell, EU Ambassador to Georgia, is concerned that two existing members of the High Council of Justice were replaced by new judges on October 31.

On October 31, the Conference of Judges elected Paata Silagadze and Giorgi Goginashvili to the High Council of Justice.

They took the place of Tamar Oniani and Teya Leonidze, who willingly resigned from the council.

Silagadze and Goginashvili are members of the so-called "clan of judges," and both have been appointed to the Tbilisi Court of Appeal for life.

According to the US embassy, ​​it is regrettable that the judiciary has not yet been able to elect Council members democratically.

The US embassy statement also said the judges’ decision came at a time when public attention was diverted to municipal elections.

“Only one candidate was nominated for each vacancy. The announcement of vacancies created as a result of early resignation was made shortly before. There was no opportunity for consultation, nor for the participation of a wide range of qualified candidates, nor for significant participation of civil society and relevant stakeholders,” the statement said.

According to the US embassy, the procedure was not competitive nor transparent. They also said that the judiciary had squandered a chance to display openness by failing to elect members in a competitive and democratic procedure.

“When the Conference of Judges rushes to make important decisions without competition and transparency, it shows that it does not want to implement reforms that should increase transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the appointment process, candidates, and the High Council of Justice. Many qualified members of the judiciary who have been excluded from the process due to the closed system deserve better,” the statement said.

EU Ambassador Carl Harzell notes that the appointment of judges took place the day after the second round of elections – just four days after the publication of the conference agenda.

“The appointments were hasty, opaque, and uncompetitive. Consequently, they run counter to Georgia’s commitments to enhance independence, accountability, quality, and confidence in the judiciary under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.”

“This is the fifth step back in the judicial system and the rule of law in Georgia over the past four months,” Harzell said.

He also stressed that the July 12 ruling, according to which six judges were appointed to the Supreme Court for life, was assessed by the OSCE/ODIHR as “lacking in integrity, objectivity, and trust.”

In addition, according to the ambassador, this largely led to the suspension of €75 million in aid due to the lack of reforms in the justice system.

“To date, there has been no credible investigation into the violence against more than 50 journalists and activists on 5 July and the punishment of the organisers.”

“These events prove once again that starting an ambitious judicial reform process with broad, inclusive, and multiparty participation is imperative, and that the political parties of Georgia have made this commitment,” Harzell said.

According to him, the European Union reiterates its call on Georgian authorities to fulfil its duties relating to justice reforms for the benefit of Georgian citizens' interests and relations with the European Union.

While the EU is committed to supporting reforms in Georgia in accordance with the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, EU aid will continue to be conditional on important reforms being implemented.

The European Commission approved a €3 billion macro-financial aid plan for partners in April 2020 to address the pandemic's socio-economic concerns.

Under the terms of the EU, the Georgian government was obliged to carry out the necessary reforms in the judicial system, management, finance, and energy to Georgia receive the second tranche of €75 million of EU assistance in early 2021 as part of a macro-finance package.

Later, Giorgi Kakauridze, First Deputy Minister of Finance, admitted that there was a risk that the EU’s macro-financial assistance in the amount of €75 million would not be transferred at all, since the money was tied to reforms, one of which was judicial reform. According to Kakauridze, the EU was critical of the reform of the judicial system.