Supreme Court expresses concern about of introduction of vetting system

The Supreme Court of Georgia expresses concern about the special procedure for checking the conscientiousness of judges - regarding the initiative to introduce the vetting system.

As mentioned in the statement issued by the Supreme Court of Georgia, it is clear that the vetting system does not belong to the international standard, it grossly violates the sovereignty of the state, it envisages the transfer of one of the branches of the state government - the mechanisms of court recruitment to the hands of external actors.

"It is clear that vetting unequivocally, essentially and fundamentally undermines the independence of the court or individual judge, undermines public confidence in the justice system, and aims to consolidate negative public opinion about the need for the evaluation of conscientiousness in order to facilitate political control over the judiciary.

Creating a climate of constant tension in the court has a negative impact on the individual work of each judge. In such conditions, it is significant that the attention of the system of common courts, instead of the implementation of the key function of the implementation of justice, is directed towards such processes, which are non-legal in their content and contain a purely political character”, reads the statement.

The Supreme Court of Georgia declares with full responsibility that in the Georgian judicial system, neither the conscientiousness nor the qualifications of the judges, nor the quality of justice, nor the standard of justification of the decisions, indicate the existence of the rule of law problem.

Based on all the above, the Supreme Court of Georgia categorically opposes the procedure against the dignity, independence, and institutional reputation of the system of common courts of Georgia and hopes that this will be correctly perceived by the public.