The past two years have proved particularly significant and simultaneously tense, full of conflicting events for the democratization of Georgia. Unfortunately, the central role in these events was played by Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and the sudden acceleration of the European integration process due to this tragic geopolitical event. Aligning with global trends, the accelerated democratic decline in Georgia in recent years was contrasted by a unique window of opportunity appeared for the country to use the ongoing processes for fundamental substantive reforms to build state institutions and improve human rights protection. From today's point of view, such an optimistic perspective has, unfortunately, been only partially realized. The chronicle of the last 18 months of life in Georgia and the evaluation report of the European Commission of November 8 on the implementation of 12 recommendations prove that the core contribution to the European integration was made less by the government and mainly by the general consolidation of society and the activation of direct democratic accountability mechanisms.

Georgia applied for EU membership alongside Ukraine and Moldova in March of the previous year. In response to the application, on June 17, 2022, the European Commission issued 12 recommendations to Georgia, the implementation of which was a prerequisite for obtaining the candidate status.^[1] The priorities set out in the recommendations were directly related to EU values and standards, such as democracy and the rule of law. Among them, one of the central priorities was reforming the judicial system.

According to the recommendations, the reform of the judicial system included the following directions:

• Development of a transparent and effective strategy and action plan for judicial reform based on broad public and political consensus;
• Ensure a judiciary that is fully and truly independent, accountable and impartial along the entire judicial institutional chain,
• Safeguard the separation of powers and ensure the proper functioning and integrity of all judicial and prosecutorial institutions;
• Address any shortcomings identified in previous years in the process of the nomination of judges at all levels (in particular the Supreme Court);
• Undertake a thorough reform of the High Council of Justice and appoint the High Council's 5 members.

In addition, the document noted that the devised changes need to be fully in line with European standards and the recommendations of the Venice Commission.

As on other issues, to implement the recommendation on judicial reform, on August 4, 2022, the relevant working group was established within the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia.[2] The working group was composed of parliamentarians, representatives of relevant state agencies, professional circles, and civil organizations, and its goal was to prepare the judicial reform strategy and action plan, as well as the necessary legislative initiatives.

In this way, a formal mechanism for working on systemic judicial reform was created in the legislative body. However, insufficient representation of civil organizations in the working group, disregard of the recommendations given by them and other independent actors, the superficial strategy of the reform, and the fragmented legislative amendments prepared in several stages on this basis showed once again that the existing parliamentary majority does not have the political will for a systemic, comprehensive reform of the judiciary.

The legislative amendments[3] prepared by the working group and initiated by the Legal Affairs Committee on November 4, 2022, which were sent to the Venice Commission and the OSCE/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),[4] attracted strict criticism from these organizations.[5] Significantly, both organizations evaluated the package of legislative changes in light of the fragmented reforms implemented in the last four years (2019-2023) and their conclusions on these reforms, considering the recommendation issued by the European Commission itself. According to the findings, despite specific improvements, the changes did not strike as a thoroughly analyzed and comprehensive reform. According to the Venice Commission, this especially applies to the High Council of Justice, where concerns on corporatism and cronyism – issues perceived by the public and civil organizations - should be taken seriously. Later, on June 16, 2023, the OSCE/ODIHR published another conclusion,[6] which, upon the Public Defender’s request in December 2022, provided a detailed assessment of the critical problems identified by the Public Defender and civil organizations over the years and discussed relevant European practices.

The ruling party failed to consider most of these findings and assessments in the subsequent stages. More so, following closed-door consultations with several parliamentary opposition members, the “Georgian Dream” chose three and then two more non-judge members of the High Council of Justice. In one way or another, the new non-judge members are connected with informal influential groups within the court and do not enjoy the support of the parliamentary opposition and civil organizations.[7] The working process was not even affected by a concerning decision of the US State Department, according to which three current and one former judge and their family members were banned from entering the territory of the United States due to "abuse of public office" and "involvement in significant corruption".[8] The ruling party did not support the creation of a temporary investigative commission of Parliament on this issue,[9]  which was demanded by the parliamentary opposition and, before that, civil society. [10]

Ultimately, “Georgian Dream” left the reform strategy unchanged and passed a slightly, non-essentially clarified legislative package through the third reading on June 13, 2023.^[11] At the request of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the changes were once again evaluated by the Venice Commission. The follow-up opinion was published on October 9, 2023.[12] The content of the opinion was essentially reflected in the first annual enlargement report on Georgia published by the European Commission on November 8, [13] which provides a detailed description of the progress achieved by Georgia, including the state of fulfilling the 12 recommendations, and issues further recommendations. According to the report, the progress achieved on judicial reform was "limited" and the fundamental reform of the Georgian judicial system, especially the High Council of Justice, has yet to be implemented.

As a result, as the current working process showed, despite the international and local organizations being vocal about the acute problems in the Georgian judicial system, “Georgian Dream” still has not acknowledged the existence of such issues. Moreover, the reform strategy and package of legislative changes developed by the ruling party in this process, as well as the positions voiced by the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee at hearings and plenary sessions, indicate that Georgian Dream considers the judicial reforms carried out so far to be sufficient for Georgia's integration into the European Union. According to Anri Okhanashvili, "Georgia deserved candidate status even before, but now it deserves even more as a result of our work and efforts; we will apply to the European Union with a kind of a bonus, an advance to be granted the candidate status." [14]

The present document evaluates the developments in the European integration of Georgia concerning judicial reform and the implemented legislative and personnel changes. In particular, the document analyzes the composition of the relevant working group in the Parliament and the quality of its work. It also discusses the judicial reform strategy developed by the working group, the package of legislative amendments prepared in two stages, as well as the draft amendments, which the ruling party registered in Parliament in September 2023 and sent to the Venice Commission for evaluation, though further consideration is yet to take place; The document also overviews assessments prepared by international organizations on the developments and legislative changes, as well as possible directions for further reforms, which were put on the agenda after the publication of the European Commission's report on November 8. Finally, the document heavily draws from the initial assessment of the judicial reform by the Social Justice Center, published in March 2023. [15]

This document has been prepared in the framework of the project “Promoting the Rule of Law in Georgia through Monitoring, Research and Education”, which is implemented by Social Justice Center with the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Social Justice Center is solely responsible for the content of the document. The information and assessments provided in the document do not necessarily reflect the views of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia.

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