On October 31, the Gnomon Wise Research Institute presented an academic study: “Institutional Reconstruction of the Judiciary of Georgia”, which was commissioned by the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
The study shows that the institutional issue within the Georgian judiciary is the vertically integrated power, which concentrates all judicial branch in one state body – the High Council of Justice and the judicial elite that controls it.
According to the document, vertically integrated decentralization of entire power is proposed as a key provision for institutional reconstruction. This concept implies that no single institution has central control over all key functions, such as: the appointment of judges, oversight of their careers, and their accountability.
Currently, this power lies within the High Council of Justice. To avoid such excessive concentration, the authors of the study perceive the need to
redistribute the existing powers of the High Council of Justice among other institutions. The study additionally presents a concept for institutional justice reform, outlining different models and alternatives. The reform models include changes to the appointment of judges, the system of judicial accountability, decentralization of the administration function of common courts and reduction of the powers of court chairpersons.
“Gnomon Wise” researchers: Mr. David Zedelashvili, Ms. Tamar Ketsbaia and Ms. Ana Chiabrishvili presented the key findings of this study along with the reform concept. The meeting was led by Mr. Giorgi Chitidze, Human Rights Program Manager at the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
