September 21, 2018

The Coalition is concerned that the process of selecting the new Chief Justice is suspended until this day. We again remind the authorized persons that based on the Constitutional amendments that are set to take effect upon the swearing-in of the next President of Georgia, the High Council of Justice (HCOJ) is given the authority to nominate the candidate for the Chief Justice position. Additionally, the Chief Justice nominated and selected according to the new rules will no longer be the Chair of the HCOJ, which will significantly expand the concentration of power in the hands of the influential group of judges within the judicial system and will diminish the chances of resolving the crisis in the judiciary.

The Coalition believes that on the one hand the president, whose decision terminated the consultation process, and on the other hand the parliamentary majority, which refused to engage in consultation processes with the President upfront, are not participating in this process in good faith. The process until now of selecting a candidate for the position of Chief Justice shows that neither the President nor the ruling party has an adequate understanding of the gravity of the situation in the judiciary, or that they have no intention of taking meaningful steps towards changing the situation.

The Coalition calls on the President and the ruling party to start constructive consultations to select a candidate for the Chief Justice position. The Coalition once again stands ready to actively engage in consultations and the candidate selection processes.