The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has been actively involved in monitoring and evaluating the reporting of gifts received by public officials in various branches of government. Its latest study, published on October 27, 2023, examines the gifts received by judges between 2020 and 2022, shedding light on the recipients of high-value gifts and and investigating possible violations of existing laws. An earlier report released on October 25, 2023, titled “Gifts Received by Officials 2020-2022,” meticulously analyzed gifts received by executive branch officials and their family members.
Legal Framework
Although judges are not classified as civil servants under the Georgian Law “On Civil Service”, they are covered by the Law “On Combating Corruption”. As a result, they are subject to similar standards and restrictions regarding the acceptance of gifts. These standards prohibit judges from accepting gifts or services that could compromise the performance of their official duties. Specifically, the total value of gifts that judges may receive during the year may not exceed 15% of their annual official salary, and individual gifts may not exceed 5%. In addition, gifts received by family members are also subject to restrictions, with an annual limit of GEL 1,000 and a maximum individual gift value of GEL 500. The Anti-Corruption Law provides exceptions to these rules and clarifies that gifts from family members or close relatives are not covered by the law. Violations of these gift rules can result in criminal liability for officials, but Georgian law does not hold family members accountable for receiving prohibited gifts.
The document discusses the review of gift statements made by individual judges. In these financial statements, a gift is considered problematic if it is given to an official or a member of the official’s family by someone who is not legally defined as a close relative (e.g., aunt, cousin). The study identifies cases where such gifts may exceed legal limits and potentially violate the law. These cases are flagged if the gift is not from a close relative; if there’s a lack of information to establish a relationship with the giver; if it exceeds legal value limits if it occurs while the official is in a public position; and if there’s a lack of sufficient explanation to confirm its legality.
Key Findings:
- Between 2020-2022, 49 judges or their family members received gifts with a total estimated value of GEL 5 million.
- During this period, declarant judges received gifts worth 3 million GEL directly, while another GEL 2 million in gifts were received by their family members.
- A substantial 91% (GEL 4.5 million ) of these gifts originated from family members or close relatives, with 8% (GEL 430,000 ) coming from relatives whose gift receipt is restricted by law, and a remaining 1% (GEL 33.4 thousand) from other sources.
- The composition of these gifts was primarily in cash, amounting to GEL 2.3 million, with an additional GEL 2.6 million in real estate, and the remaining GEL 129.5 thousand in the form of vehicles or other valuable items.
- Notably, within the Constitutional Court, only Eva Gotsiridze received a gift between 2020 and 2022, which was a cash sum of 19.6 thousand euros from a family member.
- Aleksandre Tsuladze received a plot of land valued at USD 200,000, and Giorgi Mikautadze received a sum of USD 100,000 from their respective parents, who are judges in the Supreme Court.
- A total of 18 judges received gifts surpassing GEL 100,000 in value during the specified period.
- Mikheil Chinchaladze’s family members (his wife and son) received 68.8 thousand US dollars and GEL 2.3 thousand as gifts from his wife’s mother, sent from abroad. Mikheil Chinchaladze is sanctioned by the United States State Department due to involvement in significant corrupt activities.
- The monitoring efforts uncovered seven instances of judges and their family members allegedly receiving gifts in violation of the law.
- Several financial declarations by judges lacked precise information concerning the relationship between the gift recipient and giver.
Conclusion:
The results of monitoring the asset statements of judges in 2020-2022 show a similar pattern to that of executive officials, with frequent cases of receiving substantial gifts from individuals not subject to legal gift restrictions. However, even in these cases, questions arise as to the source of the funds for the gifts, requiring further investigation. As a result, the risk of being involved in “significant corrupt activity”, as defined by the US Department of State, is particularly high.
According to IDFI, an assessment of the regulation and enforcement of gift policy in the civil service, based on judges’ financial statements reveals a significant problem with the clarity and implementation of Georgian legislation. Specifically, Georgian law imposes restrictions on certain gifts accepted by family members of public officials, but fails to establish adequate measures of accountability for violations of this norm.
IDFI believes that the scale of the acceptance of gifts by public officials, including judges, in recent years creates a need to monitor the legal restrictions on gifts to public officials and to increase the effectiveness of their enforcement.
Also Read:
- 24/01/2023 – IDFI Reports on Employment of Family Members of Judges in Public Sector
- 16/01/2023 – IDFI Reports on Shortcomings in Proactive Disclosure of Public Information
- 08/09/2022 – IDFI Reports on Russian, Belarussian Citizens in Georgia
- 02/09/2022 – IDFI: Russians Dominant Group Receiving Georgian Citizenship
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