President names Deputy Defence Minister as his pick for Supreme Court judge
By Messenger Staff
Monday, February 29
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili has named the country’s Deputy Minister of Defence as his candidate as a judge for Georgia’s Supreme Court.
Margvelashvili revealed his candidate after the Parliament of Georgia suspended Levan Murusidze’s as a judge of the Supreme Court as he had recently been elected as a judge of the Court of Appeals.
The President said that Anna Dolidze had always been distinguished for her “high professionalism and non-stop fight against injustice.”
The President especially praised Dolidze’s efforts to establish the truth in Girgvliani’s notorious murder case under the previous state leadership.
“I am sure Anna will manage to preserve her values and attitudes on this new and very responsible position and successfully protect them,” the President said.
Dolidze, who has enjoyed a successful domestic and foreign career, said that being a judge of the Supreme Court was the dream of every lawyer.
She stressed that attracting qualified staff was of the utmost importance if Georgia is to produce a high-level court system.
“I returned to Georgia a year ago with the aim to serve my country. I accepted the President’s offer with pleasure and hope that my experience will help Georgia’s court system,” Dolidze said.
Dolidze, 37, is an attorney, a professor of international law at the University of Western Ontario, United States, a speaker and writer on international law and human rights in Caucasus and Central Eurasia. She was appointed as Georgia's Deputy Minister of Defense in May 2015. From 2004 to 2006 Dolidze served as the head of Georgia’s Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA).
Parliament will decide whether or not to accept the President's candidate. Dolidze requires 76 votes out of the 150-seat parliament. If accepted, she will automatically leave her post in the Ministry of Defence.
Georgia’s ruling political party appreciated the President’s choice, while a member of the United National Movement (UNM), Chiora Taktakishvili, said Dolidze was guilty of protecting the interests of Russian Non-Governmental Organizations after the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.
Responding to the allegation, Dolidze stressed if the UNM had questions for her over war-related issues, they should have voiced them while she served as Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Defence.
