PM pledges support for domestic court as US sanctions judges

Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday pledged support for the domestic judiciary and praised the country’s judges as “highly-qualified professionals”, after the US last week imposed sanctions on four judges for alleged corruption. 

 

In his comments after the meeting with the members of the High Council of Justice in the Supreme Court that was initiated by the body, the PM claimed the US sanctions had raised question marks due to the lack of evidence. 

 

He said his office had refrained from communication with the court representatives over the years to prevent potential allegations on interference, but said it was a “specific case” and as the country’s PM he he had expressed readiness to listen to the concerns of judges, who had described the sanctions as “unfair” and “politically grounded”. 

 

The chair  of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the High Council of Justice Nino Kadagidze thanked the PM for his support and said a “new stage” had come in the country’s judiciary when the latter required the government’s engagement. 

 

“The stage has come when the government should intervene in a number of issues. In any case, I believe that a normative framework based on certain correct views can be developed”, she said. 

 

The US on Wednesday imposed visa restrictions on acting judges Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia and a former judge Valerian Tsertsvadze for their alleged “involvement in significant corruption”, and “abusing their positions as court chairmen and members of Georgia’s High Council of Justice, undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in Georgia’s judicial system”.