The Course and Consequences of Justice Reform in Georgia

Judicial reform in Georgia has been in progress since the 90s. Significant changes have been made within the reform since 2012, including numerous positive changes that have taken place, namely: • Concrete steps were taken to free the High Council of Justice from political influence; • The activities of the Council of Justice have become much more transparent; • The role of the self-government of judges has increased; • An electronic case distribution system has been implemented; • The electronic services in court have improved; • Statistics on administrative case decisions have improved; • Improved statistics on criminal case decisions; Nevertheless, there are still significant problems in the judiciary. These problems concern both the review of cases and the management of the judiciary in general. These problems include: • Independence and impartiality of the judiciary; • Transparency of court hearings; • Violation of the rule of witness interrogation; • Low public confidence in the judiciary; • Delayed cases; • Overloaded court system. In this paper, the author has reviewed the positive steps in detail, taken for judicial reform. The main shortcomings in the current judicial system have also been discussed in detail. In this paper, the author offers her own opinions in order to eliminate the existing problems. At the end, special attention is paid to the need of bringing the justice system and the education system closer.