EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell believes that the continuing process of judicial candidates’ appointments contradicts the ambitious judicial reforms.

“You saw, most likely, the statement that was made by the EU Foreign Policy spokesperson yesterday, where, among other things, it was noted that the latest appointments are seen by us to contradict the pledges to have ambitious judicial reforms,” Carl Hartzell noted.

Carl Hartzell said the European Union was disappointed as the Georgian government continued to disregard the recommendations from the Council of Europe, Venice Commission, or with the OSCE/ODIHR, and other international partners such as the UN and the US over the issue.

“I should say that these appointments very clearly were done against the recommendations and advice from the Council of Europe, Venice Commission, or with the OSCE/ODIHR, and other international partners such as the UN and the US.

I think there’s no question about where we stand on this issue. We have been trying to engage in a closer dialogue to make sure that they’re coming to a joint understanding of the process that, unfortunately, has not happened. And to me, in terms of what this means, the bottom line very clearly, however you see this is that it has not contributed to building further trust in EU-Georgia relations nor advanced Georgia’s European path,” EU Ambassador said.

Georgian parliament approved four Supreme Court judicial candidates during the plenary sitting on December 1.