Two New Supreme Court Judges Approved

The Georgian Dream Parliament voted to approve Mikheil Jinjolia and Levan Nemsadze as new lifetime judges of the Supreme Court of Georgia, with both receiving unanimous support from 82 GD MPs during the October 15 plenary session.

Levan Nemsadze, who has served as a non-judge member of the High Council of Justice since 2023 and has not been a sitting judge, took the oath of office during the session.

Mikheil Jinjolia worked at Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, he was appointed as a judge of the Investigative, Pre-Trial Hearing, and Criminal Trial Chamber of the Criminal Cases Division of the Tbilisi City Court. In 2021, he became a judge of the Administrative Cases Chamber, and in 2022, of the Investigative and Pre-Trial Hearing Chamber. Since November 2022, he has served as a judge in the Criminal Cases Chamber.

Jiljolia has previously handled several high-profile cases, including the case of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, whom he found guilty of illegally crossing the state border and sentenced to four years and six months in prison. He also presided over the case of Giorgi Akhobadze, a protester detained on drug-related charges during the November-December 2024 demonstrations, who is now out of jail. During Akhobadze’s pretrial proceedings, Jinjolia was replaced by Judge Romeo Tkeshelashvili, who later acquitted Akhobadze in a rare not-guilty verdict in protest-related cases.

Jinjolia was among five Georgian officials recently sanctioned by the Czech Republic for their role in the violent crackdowns on protesters in 2024 and 2025.

As for Levan Nemsadze, who has not been a sitting judge, he held various administrative positions at the Tbilisi City Court between 2011 and 2015 and later at the High Council of Justice, before being appointed as a non-judge member of the Council in 2023.

Their election to the Supreme Court comes amid widespread concerns about the lack of transparency and independence in Georgia’s judiciary.

Also Read:

• 27/05/2025 – New Member of Georgia’s Supreme Court Elected
• 17/09/2024 – Parliament Appoints Nikoloz Marsagishvili As New Supreme Court Judge
• 27/06/2024 – Parliament Appoints Three Lifetime Judges to Supreme Court, Amid CSO Calls for ‘Vetting’
• 15/03/2024 – Two Supreme Court Judges Disagree with Court’s Denunciation of Proposed ‘Vetting’

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