The Tbilisi City Court on July 22 ruled to suspend Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s decree appointing Kakha Tsikarishvili as a member of the Board of the High Council of Justice (HCoJ).

President’s Parliamentary Secretary Giorgi Mskhiladze lambasted the Court’s decision, calling it “unprecedented” interference in the President’s constitutional right to appoint the HCoJ member.

“First, you have no right to make arbitrary decision; second, this is the violation of the principle of separation of powers; third, this is yet another proof of clan rule in the judiciary for which even one different stance in the High Council of Justice is unacceptable,” Mskhiladze asserted at a special press point on Monday, adding that “no one in a democracy has the right to deprive a head of state of her constitutional right.”

Giorgi Mskhiladze addressed society, the diplomatic corps, the international community, international organizations, and OSCE/ODIHR “to react to this issue.”

On July 15, the President appointed Kakha Tsikarishvili as a non-judge member of the HCoJ for a four-year tenure.

The contenders included Manuchar Kakochashvili, Giorgi Burjanadze, Tamar Alpaidze, Dimitri Gabunia, and Kakha Tsikarishvili.