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Coalition Members:

Rules for Case Assignment/ Conflict of Interest/ Election of Court


Presidents
The legislative changes under the Third Wave of the Judicial Reform are
concerned with such issues as conflict of interests, rules for the
selection/appointment of court presidents, and electronic assignment of the
cases. Despite certain positive changes, the proposed draft law does not fully
address existing gaps in the areas listed above. Due to these reasons the
Coalition presents recommendations with respect to these issues.
Conflict of interest High Council of Justice has faced conflict of interest
issues on several occasions and has never managed to address them. This
fact is an indicator of the need for regulations which can avoid such
precedents in the future. It is important to note the following:
Norms regulating conflict of interest shall cover not only the
judicial selection/appointment process, but also any issue in
the Councils competence.
A person, who is facing the decision of the Council or the
member of the Council, shall have a right to recusal in cases
involving conflict of interest.
Case Assignment - In the light of current crisis and low public confidence in
the court system, it is important to introduce an electronic random case
assignment system promptly and without unreasonable delays. The
suggested draft postpones introduction of this system. Due to this fact the
Coalition is proposing a transitional model according to which:
Before launching the system for electronic and random
distribution of cases court presidents are deprived of the
authority to assign cases due to the overloading of certain
judges or other circumstances, which prevent consideration of
cases by a judge.
Election of the Court Presidents court presidents unlimited power has
been a substantial problem for many years. This unlimited power has
corrupted the presidential institute and has led to the transformation of
court presidents into privileged judges. For instance, presidents of the
courts with heavy caseload have been criticized for avoiding
consideration of cases, privileged working conditions, and benefits
related to the use of office cars. It is unacceptable to allow division of
judges according to their status. Court presidents unlimited power is
visible in the process of case assignment, which has been a subject of
criticism for many years. The Coalition believes that:
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Article 42 of the
Constitution
Multinational Georgia
Georgia Small and
Medium Enterprise
Association
Civil Integration
Foundation
Georgian Lawyers for
Independent Profession
Liberal
Center for Protection of
Constitutional Rights
International Society
for Fair Elections and
Democracy
The Union 21 Century
Georgian Young
Lawyers Association
Human Right Center
Transparency
International
Union of Meskhetian
Democrats
Liberty Institute
Civil Development
Agency
United Nations
Association of Georgia
The European Law
Students Association
Civil Society Institute
Open Society Georgia
Foundation
Institute of Democracy
American Chamber of
Commerce
Eurasia Partnership
Foundation
Institute of
Development of
Freedom of Information
Human Rights Priority
Tbilisi Media Club
Human Rights
Education and
Monitoring Centre
Foundation for the
Support of Legal
Education
Institute of Civil
Engagement
Association of law firms
of Georgia
Association of Young
Economists of Georgia
European Choice of
Georgia
Liberal Academy
Georgia
Partnership for Human

Election of Presidents of Appellate and District (City) Courts


shall be based on rotation;

Judges shall have a right not to participate in the selection


process;

Restriction shall not exist for judges appointed for a 3-year


period and they also shall be entitled to be selected as a
president.

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