A workshop on the conflict of interest rules and regulations in the judiciary was organised by the Council of Europe project “Support to the Judicial Reform in Georgia” in Tbilisi on 28 March 2018. The objective of the meeting was to present findings of the comparative legislative analysis and to discuss additional safeguards to further strengthen the regulatory framework against conflict of interest incidents.

In his opening speech, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Mr Cristian Urse, highlighted the findings of the recent evaluation report of the Group of States against Corruption (“GRECO”) and the Action Plan for the Judiciary in Georgia 2017-2019. The Secretary of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, Mr Giorgi Miqautadze, presented the recent amendments to the legislation on conflict of interest, also noting areas that still require action to achieve a higher level of independence and transparency within the judiciary: “Although there are considerable improvements in the law, the criteria of conflict of interests certainly need to be clarified”, the Secretary concluded.

The workshop proceeded with the active participation of the High Council of Justice members, staff, and representatives of the Supreme Court. Driven by the conclusions of the Fourth Evaluation Round of GRECO and Opinions No 1 and 17 of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE), the workshop created a platform where challenges and best practices were debated. Participants agreed that discussions on this topic should continue with the legislators as a part of the “4th wave” of the judicial reform.

The activity took place within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Support to the Judicial Reform in Georgia” funded by the voluntary contributions of Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, the Slovak Republic and Sweden to support the implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2016-2019.