Gov’t nominee criticized
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, August 2
The Georgian President’s Parliamentary Secretary, ex-Deputy Defence Minister Anna Dolidze, and the President’s Advisor in Human Rights Issues Kakha Kozhoridze, claim that the Government made an “unfounded and unfair” decision in terms of Georgia’s representative in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Dolidze, who was among the five final nominations for the position selected by a special commission, says the Government’s pick for the ECtHR judge, member of the High Council of Justice of Georgia Eva Gotsiridze, was selected despite “violations of the criteria and rules.”
“The decision was made behind closed doors, and in a hasty manner. There are big question marks and I, as a finalist of the competition, have a feeling of injustice. I am waiting for responses from those who selected Gotsiridze based on what criteria she was named for the position,” Dolidze said.
Kozhoridze, who previously served as the head of Georgia’s Young Lawyers Association, said Gotsiridze was not an appropriate candidate for the post she was named for.
“She fails to meet the criteria set for the position. Anna Dolidze gained higher scores from the special commission and so it is interesting why Gotsiridze was presented by the Government,” Kozhoridze said.
In February, a special commission selected five potential candidates, one of whom would represent Georgia in the ECtHR, to monitor breaches of human rights of 800 million Europeans in the 47 Council of Europe (CoE) member states.
Forty-seven people applied to represent Georgia at the ECtHR, which will become vacant later this year when the nine-year term of Georgia’s current representative, Nona Tsotsoria, expires.
From these applicants, the commission selected five of the best candidates according to their qualifications and knowledge of either English or French .
The five shortlisted candidates were current Deputy Minister of Justice Aleksandre Baramidze, Giorgi Badashvili, a Georgian lawyer at the ECtHR, Anna Dolidze, Eva Gotsiridze and human rights expert Nana Mchedlidze.
After the commission named the nominees, it was up to the Government to make a final decision on who would represent Georgia in the European court.
The commission was headed by Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani and composed of Deputy Foreign Minister Khatuna Totladze, the Government’s Parliamentary Secretary Shalva Tadumadze, head of Parliament’s Human Rights Commission Eka Beselia, deputy head of the Supreme Court of Georgia Mzia Todua, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, representative of the Bar Association of Georgia Zaza Khatiashvili, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University Irakli Burduli, and Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary representative Ana Natsvlishvili.
