Manana Kobakhidze has resigned as a judge of Georgia’s Constitutional Court, the court announced on Tuesday, a day after her colleagues rejected her request to recuse herself from a controversial case seeking to ban five of the country’s main opposition parties.
The departure of Kobakhidze (no relation to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze) comes as the Constitutional Court prepares to hear a lawsuit filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five opposition parties.
The court said Kobakhidze’s judicial powers had been terminated early at her own request.
‘The Constitutional Court of Georgia wishes her success in her future activities’, the court’s statement read.
On Monday, it emerged that Kobakhidze had requested to recuse herself from the case. However, the court’s plenary panel rejected her motion.
In her request, Kobakhidze acknowledged that the public was aware of her political background, including her role as a founding member and chair of Georgian Dream and her tenure as a member of parliament. She also noted that, before entering judicial service, she had publicly criticised the United National Movement (UNM) and individual members who are now affiliated with other parties named in the lawsuit.
Kobakhidze argued that she had called for those responsible to be held accountable for actions cited in the constitutional complaint as grounds for declaring the parties unconstitutional and banning them.
‘Moreover, during one of the plenary sessions of parliament, which was broadcast publicly, she directly called on members of UNM to dissolve their party and leave the political arena altogether’, the document published by the court stated.
Kobakhidze maintained that, since becoming a judge, she had acted solely in accordance with the Georgian Constitution and her judicial responsibilities, and that there were no grounds to question her impartiality. However, she argued that her past political activities could nevertheless raise doubts about her independence and impartiality, potentially undermining public trust in the court.
The plenary panel rejected her motion, arguing that her previous political statements amounted to general criticism and did not provide sufficient grounds to presume that she would decide the case impartially. The court also said her statements did not correspond in substance to the claims made in the lawsuit.
‘The criticism voiced by Judge Manana Kobakhidze was directed specifically at [the UNM] during her political activities, a considerable time ago’, the court’s ruling stated, describing the remarks as reflecting the political confrontation of the time and containing harsh but general criticism.
The court further stated that it disagreed with Kobakhidze’s assessment and considered that her participation in the proceedings could not give the parties to the case, the public, or an objective observer grounds to doubt her impartiality.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze commented on the recusal request, responding to a question from an opposition leaning TV Pirveli journalist.
‘As a lawyer, I will tell you that being a founding member of a party is not grounds for recusal. In that case, Ms Manana would not be able to hear any case at all. […] She was a founding member of a particular party at the time, and this is her 10th year as a judge’, he said.
He added that she had no connection to any particular political party and that nobody prevented her from adopting a new position towards other parties or acting differently.
Manana Kobakhidze was one of the founders of Georgian Dream and chaired the party from 2012 to 2013. From 2012 to 2016, she served as First Deputy Chair of Parliament. She was re-elected to parliament in 2016 and became a Constitutional Court judge in 2017.
Parliament elected Manana Kobakhidze to the court on 8 February 2017, following Georgian Dream’s nomination, with 101 votes in favour and 10 against.
Manana Kobakhidze has not publicly commented on her decision to resign. She did not answer OC Media’s calls.
The opposition party ban case
On Tuesday, it became known that the Constitutional Court had admitted Georgian Dream’s lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties for consideration on the merits.
The parties targeted by the lawsuit are: UNM; Coalition for Change; Strong Georgia – Lelo; the Federalists; Gakharia’s For Georgia.
The European Parliament condemned Georgian Dream’s efforts to ban opposition parties in a resolution adopted on 8 October. Georgian Dream officials criticised the resolution, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze comparing the European Parliament to the Soviet Union’s Supreme Soviet.
OC MediaRafig Shahbazov
Opposition politicians have said that hearings in the party ban case are scheduled to begin on 21 October.
A procedural notice published on the Constitutional Court’s website on Tuesday states that the case will be heard by the plenary panel, comprising seven judges, chaired by Revaz Nadaraia. The other judges on the panel are Eva Gotsiridze, Giorgi Tevdorashvili, Goga Kikilashvili, Sergo Metopishvili, Giorgi Modebadze, and Vasil Roinishvili, who is the reporting judge. Darejan Chaligava will serve as the secretary of the hearing.
Under Georgian law, the Constitutional Court has nine months from the filing of a complaint to decide cases concerning the prohibition of political parties.