After the partial staffing of the Supreme Court, for the first time today at 14:00, the Plenum was convened and discussed organizational issues. [1] The public is aware that the GYLA is monitoring the ongoing judicial system, including the procedures for selecting judges of the Supreme Court. To this end, a representative of the organization was allowed to attend the Plenum today and the entry pass was issued for employee of GYLA. However, the session was closed and we were not able to monitor it.

According to the law, the sessions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court are usually public.[2] This means it should be open if there is no honorable basis, a higher value public interest. According to the Public Defender, the motive of the decision was to create a comfortable environment for judges to discuss.[3]

The law also obliges the Plenum "to build people's trust and confidence in the judiciary within the scope of its authority."[4] In cases where confidence in the court is critically low and when there is high public interest and questions about the processes around the court of cassation, closure of the court will harm public sentiment. GYLA calls on the Supreme Court not to hinder observers to monitor the process of the court in the future with such interpretation of the law.

[1] Session of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Georgia, News, Website of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Available at http://www.supremecourt.ge/news/id/2011, Updated: 16.12.2019.

[2] Paragraph 7 of Article 18 of Organic Law of Georgia on "Common Courts of Georgia"

[3] Information disseminated by Deputy Public Defender Giorgi Burjanadze Available at https://www.facebook.com/Gio.BuRJaNadZe/posts/10220609606053672, Updated: 16.12.2019

[4] Subparagraph "b" of paragraph 3 of article 18 of Organic Law of Georgia on "Common Courts of Georgia".