US Ambassador: Parliament to have the authority to pause the judicial appointment process

US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan commented about the OSCE/ODIHR report on the process of judicial nominations to Georgia’s Supreme Court.

“I have seen the assessment but I have not had the chance to read it and to study it thoroughly. But it echoes what many Georgians, other friends of Georgia have been saying. There needs to be an inclusive, broad discussion of the judicial reform here in Georgia before the appointment process goes forward.

The appointment process should be paused, while this inclusive debate and discussion of the judicial reform is held, then the appointments can proceed under that new rubric.

That is what the political leaders including the ruling party agreed to do in the April 19 Agreement. It is quite explicit, it is quite clear that it was the intended sequence – broad, inclusive debate of the judicial reform, to pause the appointment process until it is concluded, and then reopen it and conclude it under a new framework.

We are still hoping that the parliament will do that. The parliament has the authority to pause the appointment process, and we sincerely hope, especially after this ODIHR report that this will happen. It is very important that Georgians have confidence in the way the judges are selected so that they can have confidence in the decisions that their judges render,” US Ambassador claimed.

Shortcomings in the process of judicial nominations to Georgia’s Supreme Court put the independence of the judiciary in the country at further risk, despite some recent improvements to the transparency and accountability of the process, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on July 10 in its third monitoring report.