On 24 November 2017 an international conference on “Judicial Independence and Court Administration in the Republic of Kazakhstan” was held in Astana. The event was organised in the framework of  the European Union and Council of Europe Joint Programme “Support to the Kazakh Authorities in Improving the Quality and Efficiency of the Kazakh Justice System”jointly with the Supreme Court and the High Judicial Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan.  The Chief Justice of Georgia, Ms Nino Gvenetadze, and the acting Court Manager, Ms Nato Lomtatidze, have attended the conference with the contribution of the Support to the Judicial Reform Project in Georgia.

The Chief Justice of Georgia addressed participants with a welcome speech. Opening remarks were made also by other honorable guests including the Chief Justice and Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan, the President of the High Judicial Council of Kazakhstan, the President of the Constitutional Court of Croatia, the Council of Europe. At the conference Ms Gvenetadze delivered her speech on “Judicial Strategy and Action Plan: Achievements and Challenges”. She presented the Third Wave of Judicial Reform implemented in Georgia and stressed its main directions. The Chief Justice talked about the establishment of the Independent Judicial Inspector, electronic distribution of court cases and amendments to the rule of the selection/appointment of judges. She also described the process of developing the Strategy’s Action Plan, highlighting ways of its completion and possibilities of regulating challenges.      

The Acting Manager of the Supreme Court presented the Court structure and discussed changes implemented during 2017. Ms Nato Lomtatidze described the functions of different units at the Court and emphasized the advantages of the new structure on the way to establishing an independent and transparent judicial system.

The financial contribution of the Support to the Judicial Reform Project in Georgia for organising the visit of the Georgian delegation is part of its activities aimed at contributing to a successful implementation of the judicial reform. It is expected that this type of activities, including the participation in discussions at international level, will contribute to experience sharing with other countries and to promoting an effective implementation of the reform.

_{The “Support to the Judicial Reform” project is funded by 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.}