ECHR Finds Violation of Article 6 in Case Involving Acting Georgian Judge
On August 29, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in the case of Khachapuridze and Khachidze v. Georgia, found a violation of Article 6, parts 1 and 3 (c) and (d) of the European Human Rights Convention and ordered Georgia to pay the applicants EUR 1000-1000 in damages and EUR 3000 for costs and expenses. The case involves the acting judge Giorgi Mikautadze who is allegedly, one of the members of the infamous “judicial clan“.
The case concerns an incident that took place in August 2016 on Gonio beach, near the city of Batumi. Tamar Khachapuridze claimed that the then chairman of the Tbilisi City Court and current judge Giorgi Mikautadze verbally and physically assaulted her and her son, and filed a complaint with the police. Shortly after, Mikautadze also filed a complaint that he was the victim of physical and verbal assault by Khachapuridze and her family.
In 2018, the Khelvachauri court found Tamar Khachapuridze and her husband, Kakhaber Khachidze guilty of hooliganism under Article 239 of the Criminal Code of Georgia and fined them 3,000 GEL (approx. EUR 1000) and GEL 2,500 (approx. EUR 830). The Prosecutor’s Office didn’t bring any charges against the judge Giorgi Mikutadze. Notably, the judge in the case – Khvicha Kikilashvili, who issued the verdict in this case without hearing any of the six witnesses from the defense, is currently a judge of the Constitutional Court.
The ECHR found that both the Khelvachauri court and later the Court of Appeal failed to ensure that Tamar Khachapuridze and Kakhaber Khachidze were able to obtain the attendance of witnesses on their behalf under the same conditions as the witnesses against them, and relied on the testimony of absent witnesses as evidence. For this reason, the Strasbourg Court found a violation of Article 6, Parts 1 and 3 (c) and (d) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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