The Venice Commission publishes its opinion on the approved law “On Common Courts”. According to the Commission, the Amendments to this law go in the right direction and meet the first part of their recommendation that “reasoned decisions regarding the selection and exclusion of candidates must be produced”, but the other recommendation made in the June 2019 Urgent Opinion appears not to be reflected in these draft Amendments.

“The Commission was willing to assist the Georgian authorities in reforming the system of appointment of Supreme Court judges in line with European standards and meeting the domestic calendar. However, owing to the extremely limited amount of time it disposed as a result of the belated opinion request, the Commission could not but limit the scope of its analysis of the draft Amendments to the examination of whether its previous recommendations had been met in the draft Amendments under consideration. On 30 September 2020, the Secretariat and the rapporteurs were informed, regrettably, that the final adoption of these draft Amendments took place on that same day”, - reads the statement of the Venice Commission.

The Commission regrets that the draft Amendments were adopted at their third and final reading on 30 September 2020, however remains at the disposal of the Georgian authorities for further assistance on this matter.