While having a strong record of fighting petty corruption, the Government of Georgia aims to fight the so-called elite corruption as well. This was stated by Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze in an interview with IPN published today.
“Indeed, Georgia has a very good record of fighting petty corruption. Since assuming power, the new Government took all relevant steps to tackle the “elite corruption”; syndrome of impunity and selective application of justice. Following the October 2012 elections, the Government began engaging in judicial reform efforts. According to the official data of the Supreme Court, the Government’s actions to date have resulted in significant changes already – more citizens are winning cases against the State, and in sensitive cases related to former high officials, courts have turned down requests by prosecutors”, said the Georgian official.
Maia Panjikidze further enumerated several other major justice reform efforts: “Initiating and adopting reforms to improve the independence of judges and ensuring the transparency of the judiciary and its procedures, based on NGO recommendations and in consultation with the OSCE’s Venice Commission; Working to liberalize criminal policy; Expressing political commitment not to interfere with the justice system and the work of courts; Amending the Law on Prosecutor’s Office, limiting the power of the Minister of Justice in criminal investigations. These developments were duly noted in the Report on the Human Rights Dimension by Thomas Hammarberg, the EU Special Adviser on Constitutional and Legal Reform and Human Rights in Georgia”.
The Georgian foreign minister said that this progress became possible because the main objective of the current Government of Georgia is to build a stronger and more effective democratic state where human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully protected and the rule of law is upheld. “We are determined to ensure the practice of good governance and accountability, preserve transparency of our institutions and decision making process. These values represent the will of the Georgian people, which they clearly expressed at the October 2012 elections”, said Maia Panjikidze in her interview with IPN.
The Georgian foreign minister is visiting Chisinau on the occasion of the 5th Assembly of the Eastern Partnership’s Civil Society Forum, taking place in the Moldovan capital on November 4 and 5.
