Georgian Court Watch assesses the decision of the High Council of Justice as a punishment of the judge - Nino Giorgadze, a judge on a 3-year probationary period, was refused to be appointed for life

On November 1, 2023, a session of the High Council of Justice was held, where the issue of the authority of a Judge Nino Giorgadze was discussed. The High Council of Justice did not appoint judge Nino Giorgadze, who was on a 3-year probationary period, to the position of judge for life.

Since December 2020, Nino Giorgadze has been a judge in Bolnisi District Court. As she was on a 3-year probationary period, High Council of Justice members evaluated her performance. As a result, the sum of points obtained by the judge did not reach 70 percent of the maximum number of points. Consequently, by legal act of the Chairman of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, the judge Nino Giorgadze was refused to discuss her issue on lifetime appointment to the position. Nino Giorgadze appealed the mentioned act to the High Council of Justice, however, the HCoJ did not satisfy her request at the session held on November 1, 2023. The decision was made unanimously by all participating members (14) of the Council in the session. It should be noted that Nino Kadagidze, who is a Chairperson of the High Council of Justice and Chief Justice, did not attend the session. This kind of "unanimity" makes us think that Nino Giorgadze was not considered a loyal judge towards the influential group, and we believe that the real reason for her non-appointment is related to this factor.

It should be noted that this is an unprecedented case, since the High Council of Justice, as a rule, appoints all those judges for life who are on a 3-year probationary period and did not have the experience of working as a judge before. However, in the case of Nino Giorgadze, the HCoJ chose a different path.

Pursuant to the information of Georgian Court Watch, Nino Giorgadze had about 2100 cases pending in 3 years. Dealing with this volume of cases is a big challenge for any judge, especially one on probation.

According to the assessment of Georgian Court Watch, Nino Giorgadze was punished by the High Council of Justice because she did not become the so-called as a clan-affiliated judge, she did not obey the existing informal hierarchical order, which cost her the termination of judicial activity after 3 years.

The decision made by the High Council of Justice regarding Nino Giorgadze may represent a kind of warning and hint towards independent judges in Georgia.

The list of members of High Council of Justice who supported the removal of Judge Nino Giorgadze from the judicial system.

1. Nikoloz Marsagishvili
2. Tamar Gvamichava
3. Ketevan Tsintsadze
4. Levan Murusidze
5. Dimitri Gvritishvili
6. Levan Mikaberidze
7. Temur is a girl
8. Badri Shonia
9. Paata Silagadze
10. Giorgi Gzobava
11. Tristan Benashvili
12. Zurab Guraspashvili
13. Levan Nemsadze
14. Goga Kikilashvili