The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary, uniting 40 local civil society organizations, has issued a statement criticizing the closure of remote court hearings in the common courts of Georgia amid COVID-19.

They emphasized that transparency of court hearings was inalienable from the right to fair trial. Public hearings are crucial both for the fulfillment of rights of individuals, as well as for the society at large, they noted.

However, the Coalition said, the common courts failed to ensure transparency of court proceedings and enable court monitors and other interested parties to observe the trials.

According to the statement, a majority of Tbilisi City Court judges have fully restricted public attendance at remote hearings.

“Some criminal trial judges allow representatives of monitoring organizations to attend trials, while the majority of judges restrict public attendance by wrongfully citing regulations. Thus, they disregard the existing regulations and establish a faulty practice”, - reads the statement.