Coalition Starts Series of Online Discussion on Key Judicial Reform Issues

On July 17, Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), as Chair of the Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary, with the support of USAID-PROLoG, hosted the first in a series of online discussions on the problems of the Georgian judiciary. The discussion was dedicated to the Supreme Court, the existing procedures for selecting Supreme Court judges and ways for reforming the Court, and was broadcast live on the Coalition Facebook page.

Adam Schmidt, director of Democracy, Governance and Social Development at USAID mission in Tbilisi opened the event. The discussion brought together a broad array of legal professionals, including representatives of civil society organizations, the High Council of Justice, Georgian Bar Association and the Legal Aid Service. The presentations and the discussion that followed opened up a forum for professional reflection and discussion that will be key for any broadly supported future reform.

The five discussions to follow in the next three months will cover the composition of the High Council of Justice (HCOJ); division of functions between HCOJ and High School of Justice; mechanisms for ensuring independence of individual judges; the problems of the closed nature of the system; jury trials; professional competence of judges; and case overload.