The Legal Affairs Committee discussed and approved the Draft Organic Law on Common Courts for the II reading.

According to the reporter, Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee Archil Gorduladze, several amendments were introduced into the draft law following the I reading. In particular, he noted that it had initially been planned to formulate Paragraph 4 of Article 23 of the law as follows: “If necessary, in order to prevent delays in the administration of justice, by decision of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, a judge of the Court of Appeal, with his/her consent, may also exercise judicial authority in another chamber/investigative panel of the same court or within another narrowly specialized composition established within a chamber”.

As Archil Gorduladze explained, due to significant dissemination of disinformation regarding this amendment—aimed at damaging the reputation of the judicial system—it was decided to retain the current wording of the law, which states: “If necessary, in order to prevent delays in the administration of justice, the chairperson of the Court of Appeal, in accordance with the rules of automatic electronic case distribution in the common courts of Georgia, may assign a judge selected through this system, with his/her consent, to participate in the consideration of a case in another chamber or investigative panel of the same court”.

The reporter also noted that Paragraph 5 of Article 30 of the law will likewise remain unchanged:

“If necessary, in order to prevent delays in the administration of justice, the chairperson of the court, in accordance with the rules of automatic electronic case distribution in the common courts of Georgia, may assign a judge selected through this system, with his/her consent, to examine a case within another specialized composition (judicial panel) of the same court, as well as to exercise the powers of a magistrate judge; a magistrate judge may also be assigned to examine a case outside his/her territorial jurisdiction, in a district (city) court”.

The draft law had also envisaged the following amendment:

“If necessary, in order to prevent delays in the administration of justice, by decision of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, a judge of a district (city) court, with his/her consent, may also exercise judicial authority in another panel of the same court or within another narrowly specialized composition, as well as exercise the powers of a magistrate judge; a magistrate judge may be assigned to examine a case outside his/her territorial jurisdiction, in a district (city) court”.

The draft organic law provides for various amendments, including the revision of the procedure for selecting candidates for the position of Supreme Court judge; candidates’ evaluation and voting on their candidacies will be conducted secretly, at a closed session of the Council.

Amendments also concern the competition procedures for judges of district (city) and appellate courts, as well as the rules governing judicial secondments and the determination of judicial remuneration.