Watchdogs: Sanctioned Judges Use Court to Shield Themselves from Anti-Corruption Verification

On April 5, three Georgian watchdogs reported that the Tbilisi City Court had upheld the appeal of the four judges and halted the Anti-corruption Bureau inquest into their property declarations. Two of these judges – Levan Murusidze and Mikheil Chinchiladze – are under visa sanctions for “significant corruption” by the U.S. State Department. Watchdogs also consider them to exercise undue control over other judges.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau announced its intention to verify the asset declarations of 300 public officials selected by a special independent commission of civil society representatives “due to high public interest and high risk of corruption” on January 22. The list included 27 judges, among them Mikheil Chinchinaldze, Levan Murusidze, Sergo Metoposhvili, and Vasil Mshvenieradze. The four applied to the Tbilisi City Court with a request to invalidate the proceedings of the commission’s session.

The watchdogs report that judges Leila Poladishvili, Valeriane Pilishvili, Nino Buachidze, and Lela Mildenberg decided to halt the Bureau from monitoring the declarations pending review of the appeal.

“A judge with integrity should have no objection to the Anti-Corruption Bureau checking the information contained in his declaration. And the obstruction of judges to check the declarations of their property status raises a reasonable doubt about the reliability of the information contained in their declaration,” – emphasize the organizations.

The watchdogs call on the Anti-Corruption Bureau to publish the appeal of the judges and the interim decisions on measures adopted by Tbilisi City Court and to provide the public with full information on this case, which “seriously damages confidence in the court.”

Mikheil Chinchaladze is considered one of the leaders of the so-called “judicial clan,” a powerful, pro-government group of judges who hold sway over their colleagues. Chinchaladze entered the judiciary from the Prosecutor’s Office in 2007, when the prosecutor’s office influenced the appointment of a group of judges to help it exert “informal control” over the judiciary. In 2016, the Georgian Parliament decided to amend the law to allow Chinchaladze to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge indefinitely. In 2022, the High Council of Justice (HCoJ) decided to re-elect the controversial judge Mikheil Chinchaladze, who was first elected to the post in 2017, as Chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal for a five-year term.

Levan Murusidze is considered to be a member of the so-called “Judicial clan”. Murusidze is connected to a number of high-profile cases such as Aleksandre Girgvliani’s murder, and the case of Rustavi 2 TV Station. At the same time, the currently imprisoned former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), Ioseb (Soso) Gogashvili, has stated that he worked with Murusidze in the past to “sort out” court disputes in favor of the Georgian Dream party.

Also Read:

• 03/04/2024 – Commentary around Vetting, Judiciary
• 02/04/2024 – GD ‘Categorical’ in Urging U.S. to Lift Sanctions on Judges
• 22/03/2024 – EC Tells Georgia Judge Vetting Part of EU Negotiation “Fundamentals”
• 20/03/2024 – Dozens of CSOs React to PM, Speaker Statements on Ruling Out “Vetting” of Judges
• 30/11/2023 – Watchdog Criticizes Judicial System, Calls for Reform

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