Georgia’s political leaders made a commitment by signing the April 19 agreement to pause the appointment of judges until reforms are enacted. Such a statement made today the US Ambassador to Georgia.

“More important than my calls to pause this process is the commitment that Georgia’s political leaders made by signing and negotiating the April 19 agreement, which provides this process will be paused until the reforms are enacted and before the reforms are enacted. They also agreed to have a robust debate about what kind of judicial reforms are needed. That’s what we expect.

A deal is a deal, they negotiated this deal and they agreed to pause this process until a fulsome debate on judicial reform is held. Georgia’s constitution clearly states that the judiciary shall be independent. That is a very serious commitment and promise to the Georgian people.

The Parliament now has the obligation and responsibility under the constitution as well as under the April 19 agreement to pause this appointment process to ensure that there is a debate, to ensure that there is the assessment of previous reforms that is also provided for in the April 19 agreement, so that Georgians can be confident that their judiciary is as strong and as independent as the constitution requires”, - said Kelly Degnan.