First Verdict From 12 Good Georgians

When a Tbilisi court found Revaz Demetrashvili guilty of the murder of three members of the Minasyan family, it was a landmark verdict, not because of the crime being tried but because the ruling came from 12 members of the public rather than a judge.

The verdict on November 17 marked the end of Georgia’s first trial by jury, a sentence which will start being rolled out to the rest of the country in a year or so.

Georgian officials are hoping the new jury system will increase public confidence in the judicial system, and along the way, persuade western states that the country is serious about legal reforms.

“This is a historic process,” the chairman of Georgia’s Supreme Court, Konstantin Kublashvili, said at the end of the trial. “I am pleased that our society is ready to take part in the application of justice.”

Kublashvili was one of those behind the reform, and had consistently advocated for the use of juries.

Georgia is keen to sign trade deals to link its economy more closely with the European Union, and possibly also a deal allowing visa-free travel. Experts believe the successful introduction of jury trials could smooth progress in that direction.

Provision for jury trials was made in a new legal code adopted in 2009. A first phase running until October 2012 will see the system used solely in the capital Tbilisi, and then only for murder and other serious crimes. After that, it will be extended to cover other offences and will operate in other parts of the country.

Jurors will be selected randomly, with members of the police and armed forces, lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists barred from serving.

The authorities say the reform already has led to increased public confidence in the judicial system. A survey commissioned by the Supreme Court showed that 72 per cent of people now trust the courts.

Human rights activists and opposition figures who have studied the reforms dispute that claim, and cite opinion polls of their own to prove it. According to a survey published this year by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre, CRRC, 58 per cent of respondents believed the courts were to some extent dependent on the government, and only six per cent considered them completely independent.

Nestan Londaridze, a lawyer and rights activist from the non-government Human Rights Centre, said, “The complaints made by international organisations about our court system are well-founded, and the level of public confidence is definitely very low. It is very rare for a court to issue a decision in favour of an individual if an official body is named in the case.”

Londaridze said many of the people that sought advice from his centre “just don’t go to court because they don’t have confidence that they’ll get a fair verdict”.

Official statistics suggest he is right. Figures released by the Tbilisi City Court show that out of more than 7,900 cases it heard last year, only three ended in acquittals and another nine in partial acquittals.

That is the kind of statistic that worries the European Parliament, which issued a resolution on November 17 acknowledging “significant progress” in many areas of democratic reform, but called for more changes to the court system.

“Georgia is one of the best-performing partners of the Eastern Partnership in adopting reforms, although problems still persist as regards their implementation,” the statement said. “Further improvement is needed regarding reforms in the justice system, and labour rights, women's rights and integration of minorities.”

Many of those who are sceptical about the independence of the courts agree that if decisions are taken by juries rather than judges, more people are likely to trust the courts. Some 36 per cent of respondents in the CRRC survey agreed that juries would make courts more trustworthy, while only two per cent thought they would be harmful.

“Juries may help make court decisions more independent, the system itself more transparent, and make people trust in the process more,” Londaridze said. “I very much hope that’s what will happen, but it’s going to be a long process.”

Nino Kharadze works for RFE/RL in Tbilisi.