Attorneys Complain About Influenced Court

In developed countries Judicial System is considered to be independent; however we cannot claim the same about Georgian courts.  In our country either Prosecutor’s Office, or Regional Gubernator or high-ranking officials control the judicial system. Influenced court creates particularly numerous problems for citizens. Justice is almost impossible to prevail over through the court discussions.

 Attorneys from Gori consider that their rights are permanently violated at the Gori District Court. They claim that court decisions, resolutions, verdicts and suits are announced later. Judges do not hurry to make their decisions public and it takes the interested party almost a month to receive written documents on court decisions. Consequently similar situation creates some problems for the suitor. Very often, verdicts, made at the Gori District Court, are not sent to the Tbilisi Regional Court; though the law states that the district court is in charge of sending the case to an upper instance.
Lawyers blame prosecutors for breaching the court proceedings. Prosecutors frequently miss trials for “being busy”.  For the reason, many trails are postponed at the Gori District Court.

Attorneys complain that in the case prosecutors are late for the court hearing, the trial is postponed but if they happen to be late, the judge fines them.

Nino Shavshishvili, Lawyer:  “Very often judges pass groundless decisions. They do not satisfy reasonable mediations. However, at the Appeal Court we are declared that there are first instance courts where we should have raised the mediation.”

Shavshishvili said that Gori District Court is not independent and the Prosecutor’s Office controls it.

Natia Kaliashvili, a lawyer for the Human Rights Center, considers that judges do not bother themselves about hindering the attorneys and handing in the verdicts late. They fail to prepare the appeal. “The court hearing does not start until prosecutors appear. Even at the court prosecutors make final decisions and judges mostly pass verdicts in prosecutors’ favor. Judges never satisfy mediations notwithstanding the validity of the proofs. Consequently, lawyers cannot work properly,” said Kaliashvili.

Human Rights Center’s Gori Office is discussing several cases and preliminary investigation does not have any witnesses. The case materials show that very often, investigation lacks witnesses even at the moment of detention. However, it does not prevent the Prosecutor’s Office to appeal to the court on the basis of “valid proofs in the case materials.” Cases are so much alike each other that one can doubt that only names are changed in documents. Every lawyer agrees with the opinion.

At the moment, Shavshishvili defends eighteen-year-old Revaz Menabdishvili who is accused for thievery and for being up in arms against the police.  Shavshishvili said that though the detainee might have resisted the policemen, there are not any direct or indirect proofs in the case which can prove Menabdishvili’s guiltiness. Despite all that, Gori District Court sentenced eighteen-year-old young man to eight-year-imprisonment.

The lawyer claims that they do not have any hopes to win the process through appealing against the verdict.  However, she added that in the case of having normal judicial system Menabdishvili must not be judged under the law on thievery and armed resistance against the policemen.

Attorneys from Gori manage to defend their clients through plea bargain because of influenced court where lawyers’ effort ends in failure.

Thea Tedliashvili, Gori