Two New Supreme Court Judges Confirmed

Parliament confirmed on June 12 for a ten-year term two new judges of the Supreme Court, nominated by President Giorgi Margvelashvili.

Mzia Todua, who was confirmed with 81 votes to 1, has served for almost nine years up until now on senior posts in Cartu Bank, which is owned by ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s family.

She was a member of Cartu Bank’s supervisory board and then head of the bank’s legal department. Before joining Cartu Bank in 2006, Todua served as a judge for almost 20 years starting from 1985.

Another new judge confirmed by the Parliament is Ekaterine Gasitashvili, who was the head of the Supreme Court administration in 1999-2006 after serving briefly as deputy justice minister.

Gasitashvili was confirmed by the Parliament with 79 votes to 1.

Since 2006 she has been with a private law firm as a lawyer. Gasitashvili also was a member of ethics commission at the Georgian Bar Association. She has served as a “consultant” to new chairperson of the Supreme Court Nino Gvenetadze since March.