The Public Defender of Georgia has studied the legality of the dismissal of Mamuka Akhvlediani, Chairman of Tbilisi City Court and Criminal Cases Panel, on his own initiative and has submitted a relevant report to the High Council of Justice.

During the case study, the Public Defender studied all relevant documents in detail; as a result, it was found out that the High Council of Justice made a decision without taking into view the law on disciplinary responsibility and disciplinary proceedings against common court judges, and respectively, no disciplinary procedure, defined by the mentioned law, was applied; the disciplinary case was not discussed and no decision was made by the bodies set up for this purpose; the principles of equality of parties and competitiveness were not protected; the right to recusal could not be realized, etc. It should be noted that adoption of a decision by the Council without taking into view the law on disciplinary responsibility and disciplinary proceedings against common court judges has taken place for the first time.

Pursuant to article 55 of the law on disciplinary responsibility and disciplinary proceedings against common court judges, if the court/panel chairman does not fulfill or improperly fulfils his/her duties, relevant disciplinary measure - dismissal - may be used against him/her. This provision has been left beyond the attention of the High Council of Justice.

It should also be noted that the High Council of Justice has not discussed the violations committed by Mamuka Akhvlediani, as the chairman of Tbilisi City Court’s Criminal Cases Panel.

The Public Defender concludes that due to the above and other reasons, the decision made by the High Council is not in compliance with law and expresses hope that such practices will not happen in the future.