Justice Minister Names Candidates for Chief Prosecutor

Justice Minister, Tea Tsulukiani, named on November 18 three candidates for the post of chief prosecutor, which also includes incumbent deputy chief prosecutor Irakli Shotadze.

Two others are defense lawyers Vladimer Gabrichidze and Nana Revazishvili.

Nominations were made before 14-member Prosecutorial Council, which was established after the new law on prosecutor’s office was adopted in September, introducing new rule of selecting and electing chief prosecutor.

Prosecutorial Council will have to pick one of the candidates out of the three nominated by the Justice Minister; the candidate will then require endorsement from the government and confirmation from the Parliament through a simple majority – at least 76 votes.

Shotadze, who is believed to be the ruling GD coalition’s favorite candidate to replace Giorgi Badashvili as chief prosecutor, is likely to win the support of the Prosecutorial Council on November 19.A candidate needs at least 10 votes in 14-member Prosecutorial Council.

There are total of 15 seats in the Council, but one, which is allocated for a representative of those lawmakers who are not part of the GD parliamentary majority group, remains vacant. Opposition lawmakers from UNM and Free Democrats parties have snubbed the process; they criticize new rule of selecting chief prosecutor, saying that the new law fails to de-politicize prosecutor’s office. 

The Prosecutorial Council is chaired by the Justice Minister, who is an ex-officio member.

8 seats in the Prosecutorial Council are occupied by prosecutors, elected by the Conference of Prosecutors.
 
The Council also includes two judges, as well as one GD lawmaker Eka Beselia; the two remaining members of the Council were elected by the Parliament as a result of support from the GD ruling coalition MPs.

The nominations made by the Justice Minister on November 18 are attached with brief justification explaining her choice while naming those three candidates; it also includes cons and pros of each candidate.

In respect of Shotadze, Justice Minister Tsulukiani lists being experienced prosecutor and being supporter of “criminal justice system reform” as his advantage, and named his “relatively young age” as “weaker side” of Shotadze, who is 32.

Shotadze was appointed as first deputy of chief prosecutor in November, 2013. He joined the prosecutor’s office in 2006 and worked as a prosecutor till 2010 before moving to the Finance Ministry’s Investigative Service. Before becoming deputy chief prosecutor, he served as chief of the investigative department of the Finance Ministry’s Investigative Service till November, 2013.