EU Slams Top Court Appointments in Georgia

EU’s Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano today slammed the four lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court, and reminded Georgia that the EU assistance to Georgia “remains conditional on progress on key reforms, including on judiciary.”

The foreign policy spokesperson highlighted that the appointments, “made before the existing shortcomings in the nomination process were addressed,” are not in line with the recommendations by the ODIHR and the Venice Commission.

He said that the appointments also contravened the commitments the Georgian Dream made for judiciary reform in the EU-mediated April 19 agreement with the opposition, and restated on July 28, after quitting the deal.

The spokesperson stressed that this pledge included addressing shortcomings in the Supreme Court nomination process before proceeding with the appointments.

“These actions risks further undermining judicial independence and public trust in the Georgian justice system,” he warned.

Spokesperson Stano highlighted that the EU calls on Georgia to “strengthen the independence, accountability, and quality of the judicial system, including of the High Council of Justice, through a broad, inclusive and cross party reform process.”

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