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It is inadmissible to use the Conference of Judges against EU integration 

We, the signatory organizations, ask each judge not to allow themselves to be used as a weapon against Georgia’s integration with the European Union.  

On March 24, 2024, the Conference of Judges will be held, at which, according to existing information, the clan is planning to present a draft appeal and gain the support of the judicial corps for the avoidance of their integrity checks, which directly contradicts the nine steps defined by the European Commission.
 

As the public is well aware, after obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership, as part of the nine steps defined for Georgia by the European Commission, Georgia is obligated to implement a comprehensive reform of the judiciary, which also involves the creation of a special mechanism for integrity checks for individuals working only in the leading positions in the judicial system and judicial candidates. 

Instead of the authorities immediately developing a plan for the fulfillment of the aforementioned requirement of the European Commission, the Prime Minister and the Chairperson of the Parliament announced that the issue of integrity checks for judges had been “closed”.

By a special statement of March 22, 2024, the EU once again confirmed that in order to address systemic challenges in the judicial system, Georgia is expected to establish a system of extraordinary integrity checks, with the involvement of international experts with a decisive role in the process. By the same statement, the EU called upon the Georgian authorities to stop the verbal attacks on individual judges who expressed their views regarding a potential system of integrity checks.  

Despite the requirement of the EU, along with the leaders of the authorities, the idea of creating a mechanism for integrity checks is also categorically opposed by the group of influential judges that dominate the judicial system and whose integrity has long been questioned both within the country and abroad. Presumably, it was on the demand of this group that the Plenum of the Supreme Court released a statement on March 11 in which the integrity checks for judges were declared a “procedure that infringes on the dignity, independence, and institutional reputation”. 

The first issue on the agenda of the Conference of Judges to be held on March 24 is “Discussion on the developments around the judiciary”. It seems that the influential judges, who have a negative attitude to the mechanism for integrity checks, will try to avoid the integrity test by standing behind the backs of other individual judges participating in the conference.

According to Article 78 of the Constitution of Georgia, “The constitutional bodies shall take all measures within the scope of their competences to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”.    

The special statement of the EU two days before the Conference of Judges, which emphasizes the importance of independence of individual judges, once again confirms the support for all judges who have expressed their readiness for the integrity checks of judges working in leading positions. We know the attitude of a considerable part of judges and their support for EU integration. Accordingly, we want to remind them that they have to make a choice between the European future of our country, on the one hand, and the personal interests of the group of influential judges, on the other. Their position may have a significant impact on the process of Georgia’s integration with the EU.  For this reason, we call on each of them not to allow the clan to use the judicial corps to hinder Georgia’s progress towards the European Union.