Georgian parliament passes judicial reform bill

The Georgian parliament on Friday passed a bill of revisions to the south Caucasian country's law on common courts, with a voting of 82 for and 24 against at the third and final reading of the bill.The revisions were discussed in the 150-seat unicameral legislature for the past three months, taking into consideration recommendations from the Venice Commission.The revisions will enter into force after the Georgian president signs it. Lawmakers from the president's opposition United National Movement party strongly opposed the revisions.Should the Georgian president refuses to sign the revisions into law, the ruling coalition Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia would be trying to overrule the presidential veto.The ruling coalition already overruled one presidential veto last December with a voting of 91 for and 24 against to pass an amnesty bill for thousands of prisoners including 190 political prisoners.The revisions will change the composition of the 15-member high council of justice of Georgia.The new formation scraps the previous two presidential appointees and four parliamentarian nominees.The parliament is now to elect these six of the 15 high council of justice members through a secret ballot. Nominees for this election will be proposed by legal advocacy non-governmental organizations, law schools and law departments of various universities and the Georgian Bar Association.The six members should be confirmed by the parliament with a two-thirds majority or 100 votes.The revisions will also strip the Georgian supreme court chief of his authority to nominate candidates for the high council of justice."This bill is 99 percent in line with the Venice Commission recommendations," said parliament Speaker Davit Usupashvili on Friday. The speaker also explained that the ruling coalition had actually opted for lengthy discussions locally and internationally on the revisions bill, which actually delayed the delivery of one of the ruling coalition's election promises - free and fair judiciary in the country.The speaker said the time-consuming process was damaging the coalition but "we are politicians and it should be us to take this damage in order to deflect it from the society and the state."