EU Ambassador Advocates Checking Judges' Integrity in Georgia for Strengthening Democracy
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, emphasized the necessity of checking the integrity of judges in Georgia, referencing the European Commission's initial enlargement report for the country. Herczynski stressed the importance of involving international experts in this process to ensure its credibility. The EU Ambassador further proposed that discussing the procedure and its implementation with Georgian counterparts is vital for transparency and effectiveness.
"A fully independent, fully professional judicial system is one of the foundations of every democracy. That is why, for all enlargement countries and indeed for our own member states, the European Commission puts judicial reform as one of the priorities. This is also one of the nine steps. If we go back to the first enlargement report that the European Commission developed for Georgia last year, which was published in October of last year, we will see the necessity to check the quality of the judges' integrity, and this should be done with the participation of international experts," Herczynski stated.
The EU Ambassador emphasized the importance of discussing the procedure for checking judges' integrity with Georgian colleagues. Herczynski offered assistance and shared the European Commission's experience in working with other countries on the path to enlargement. Ultimately, as Herczynski highlighted, the goal is to establish a fully independent and professional judicial system in Georgia to strengthen democracy in the country.
"How should we do this, what the procedure should be, we need to discuss this with our Georgian colleagues. We are ready to help you and share with you the experience that we, the European Commission, have already acquired in the process of working with other countries that are on the way to enlargement. Still, the goal is to have a fully independent, fully professional judicial system in Georgia in order to have a strong democracy in the country," Herczynski said.
