Georgian President’s Office condemns court’s suspension of judicial appointment as evidence of clan rule


Author
Front News Georgia
The Georgian President’s office on Monday denounced the Tbilisi City Court’s “unprecedented decision” to suspend President Salome Zourabichvili’s decree appointing Kakha Tsikarishvili to the High Council of Justice, citing it as “evidence of entrenched clan rule within the judiciary”.
The court’s ruling on Monday came in response to a lawsuit filed by Manuchar Kakochashvili, a participant in the competition for the position and halted the July 15th decree’s effect until the legal proceedings were concluded. It also prevented the President from appointing another member to the Council during this period.
Parliamentary Secretary of the President, Giorgi Mskhiladze, condemned the ruling during a briefing at the Orbelian Palace. “Today, an unprecedented event occurred in the history of Georgia. The judiciary directly and illegally interfered with the President’s constitutional authority by suspending the decree appointing a member of the High Council of Justice,” Mskhiladze said.
He emphasized that the Georgian Constitution granted the President full authority to make such appointments and criticized the court’s actions as arbitrary and a violation of the principle of separation of powers. “This decision is another proof of the clan rule within the judiciary, where dissenting opinions are not tolerated,” Mskhiladze added.
The President’s administration has called on the public, the diplomatic corps, the international community, and international organizations, including OSCE/ODIHR, to respond appropriately to what they described as a significant overreach by the judiciary.
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