The ruling team is not going to substantially reform the judicial system. Such a statement made Guram Imnadze, Democracy and Justice Program Director at Social Justice Center, while commenting the re-election of Levan Murusidze and Dimitri Gvritishvili as members of the High Council of Justice by the Conference of Judges.

“We believe these decisions strengthen the clan-based governance in the court and prevent the fundamental reform of the justice system that, among other things, is included in the recommendations of the European Commission issued in response to Georgia’s EU membership application.

The power concentrated in the High Council of Justice naturally creates the need for staffing the Council transparently and fairly, thereby reducing the risks of internal or external influence on its activities.

The decisions made in the court system during the last period directly contradict the recommendations of both local and international organizations. Despite numerous calls from international partners, the High Council of Justice continues to take steps that harm the judiciary and uses all levers to maintain power. At the same time, the re-election of Murusidze and Gvritishvili to the Council appears as a direct response to the international partners, indicating the lack of will to improve the judicial system and implement an ambitious justice reform. Recent developments show that the efforts made by international partners over the years to strengthen the judicial system have been significantly damaged by the actions of the members of the clan. Accordingly, we believe that cooperating with influential judges and spending the partners’ resources on them, in a situation when the actions of the clan are only aimed at maintaining and strengthening their power, cannot have a positive impact on the development of the system.

Current developments further reduce the capacity of the judiciary for systemic reform and harm the already damaged trust in the courts. At the same time, the appointment of persons to important positions in the judicial system through such processes contradicts the 12-point recommendations of the European Commission and clearly shows that, instead of the systemic reform of the High Council of Justice, informal influences and the concentration of power in this body are further strengthened”, - reads the statement.