Disproportionate Punishment – Main Problem of the Georgian Judiciary

Big part of judgments passed by Georgian general courts is not proportional of the committed crimes. Independent lawyers and acting attorneys, who cooperate with the judiciary system on daily basis, made similar conclusion.

Executive director of the non-governmental organization “Public Advocacy” Manana Kobakhidze spoke about disproportionate punishments during the discussion in Boell Foundation office on November 16.

“I have worked on many famous cases. I see how justice and court can die when the government is particularly interested in the case and apparently, the prosecutor’s office is evident dominant over the court proceedings,” said Manana Kobakhidze.

She recalled one of the famous Kereselidze’s Cases, which she represents at the Strasbourg Human Rights Court. Irakli Kereselidze was convicted for murder. Initially, he was sentenced to death penalty. However, after death penalty was abolished, it was changed into the ultimate punishment under the Criminal Code of Georgia -15-year-imprisonment. Short time ago, it was reported that the Appeal Court added another four years to Kereselidze without summoning any of the parties to the court hearing.

“In this particular case, all instances of the court – City Court, Appeal and Supreme Courts – made mistake. It is cynical when the punishment was burdened on Kereselidze based on his own suit, where he complained about illegally counted punishment terms. The person was to be released in September of 2010, while his term was prolonged till 2013,” said Manana Kobakhidze.

Mariam Khurtsidze