2 Years of silence

I started monitoring the High Council of Justice from June. Until today, a number of important issues, problems, attitudes... have been highlighted. However, what I did not talk about until now, but I always paid attention to, is the non-judge member of the High Council of Justice, Tamar Gvamichava. During the 5 months of monitoring of the Council, the member appointed by the President not only did not express an opinion, but she did not even ask a single question, and on the contrary, she supports all the decisions of the HCoJ.

How did Tamar Gvamichava become a member of the High Council of Justice of Georgia?

The composition of the High Council of Justice is as follows:

• 9 Judges;
• 5 Non-judge members elected by the Parliament;
• 1 Member appointed by the President.

In July 2020, Tamar Gvamichava was appointed by the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, as a non-judge member of the High Council of Justice.

I'm not sure if she was creating a different reality during the time when I wasn't aware of her work and didn't have the opportunity to observe it directly, but I can certainly say what reality she is creating now, in the last 5 months.

To better understand the seriousness of the problem, let's take a look at the decisions that the non-judge member of the High Council of Justice supported without even asking the question:

• On June 2, 2022 the interviews and voting for the judges appointed for a 3-year probation period has been postponed. Due to the incomplete composition of the High Council of Justice, the Council cannot evaluate judges who are on probation. According to the Chairman of the Council, the right to extend the term was granted by Article 36 (5) of the Organic Law on Common Courts of Georgia. The decision was taken unanimously, Tamar Gvamichava did not express her opinion, nor did she ask any questions.
• All the members of the Council unanimously agreed on the issue of determining the composition of the chambers/collegiums of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals, particularly, to reassign the judges from one chamber/collegium to another. Tamar Gvamichava was neither asked a question on the mentioned issue nor expressed an opinion.
• All members of the Council unanimously agreed on the issue of the appointment/imposition of a duty of the chairman of some district (city)/appellate courts, including the re-appointment of Mikheil Chinchaladze as the chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal. All members of the High Council of Justice unanimously supported this decision. Tamar Gvamichava did not ask a question, nor expressed an opinion about it.
• All members of the Council unanimously agreed to transfer judges to other courts without competition. Tamar Gvamichava did not ask any questions to the applicant judges, nor will she ask the candidates about the number of their cases or their motivation; And her position has not been expressed either. However, she always votes and makes a decision without any problems with one simple movement of raising a hand.

The situation is unchanged in relation to other issues as well.

Non-judge member appointed by the President to the Council has the same rights and duties as the other members of the Council, however, unlike the others, she uses her authority only in the voting part and does not perform duties, such as asking questions to obtain information necessary for decision-making.

Thinking about the silence of the member of the High Council of Justice, it is difficult for me to understand why the President of Georgia appointed Tamar Gvamichava to this position.

Why does she never express her opinion? In searching for answers, I thought of many reasons. Incompetence should be ruled out, Tamar Gvamichava's experience and education do not raise any questions about it.

Thus, at first glance, Tamar Gvamichava's education and work experience should allow her to ask questions and express her opinion.

So what's the problem?

Are the issues she is working on uninteresting?

This version should also be excluded since the High Council of Justice is the body that largely determines the democracy and fairness of the judicial system in the country.

What's the problem anyway?

Maybe she just doesn't think that she has the obligation to state her opinion or ask a question at least once in 5 months. In principle, it won't be surprising if we recall the journalist's question about the existence of a so-called "clan" in the judicial system. She answered: "I only know the principle of teamwork".

In fact, the problem is that Tamar Gvamichava most likely become a member of the Council through family ties, and it has nothing to do with her education, work experience, views, etc. 

In fact, Tamar Gvamichava is a mascot, which was in the hands of the clan and ensures that the quota established by law is filled at any time, with a simple gesture to vote - raising a hand. Therefore, talking, expressing an opinion, or asking questions is simply not necessary anymore.

When I started thinking about this last reason, I noticed an interesting chain connection: judge Mikheil Chinchaladze, judge Irakli Shengelia and Tamar Gvamichava. Below I will explain in detail the relationship between these judges and the non-judicial silent member appointed by the President.

In all cases, when Mikheil Chinchaladze was appointed as the chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, his deputy chairman was/is Irakli Shengelia.

The first time I searched for information about Tamar Gvamichava on the Internet, I came across many articles emphasizing her connection with Irakli Shengelia. Therefore, there are no more unanswered questions.

Finally, it must be said that after Tamar Gvamichava (with "common ancestor" with Irakli Shengelia, as both mentioned about it in the media interviews) was appointed as a member of the High Council of Justice, Irakli Shengelia was appointed as the deputy chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, and then as a deputy:

• On July 22, 2022, Irakli Shengelia was elected by the High Council of Justice as the deputy chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal for a term of 5 years. In spite of conflict of interest Tamar Gvamichava participated in taking this decision.

It seems that Tamar Gvamichava's mission in the Council is just silence and voting.