Simple attractiveness of the Georgian justice system
Recently, tens of thousands of people have protested in Georgia, demanding closer ties with Europe from the government.
Following Russia's actions in Ukraine, the European Council received applications from Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia to join the EU more quickly. Ukraine and Moldova are now considered candidates, but Georgia's application is still pending approval.
The Council stated that Georgia needs to improve its institutions to make them more accountable and democratic before being accepted.
However, it's not simple. According to local branch of Transparency International, one of the main issues is that officials do not disclose all their assets.
In a recent investigation, journalists found that the problem also exists within the highest levels of the country's judicial system.
One of the most influential judges in Georgia Levan Murusidze did not declare the assets of his long-term partner, such as several apartments, pricey jewelry, and designer clothing acquired in recent years.
The cost of these purchases exceeds the couple's reported income, leading to questions about the source of the funds.
In a previous investigation, journalists found that another influential judge, Mikhail Chinchaladze, did not declare expensive properties registered to his aunt.
According to the property declaration of the President of the Court of Appeal Mikhail Chinchaladze, he claims to be poor but owns a luxurious cottage in Saguramo. His wealth grew in 2012 when he was appointed a judge by Georgian Dream, a former prosecutor.
Recently, the leader of the Droa party, Elene Khishtaria, urged Georgia's international partners, including businesspeople, to impose sanctions on judges. Khoshtaria nominated 9 judges, including Mikhail Chinchaladze.
Members of the public claim that Murusidze and Chinchaladze lead a powerful group of judges that is obstructing the reforms needed to strengthen Georgia's ties with the EU. Both judges are associated with the High Council of Justice, the main oversight body of the country's judiciary, and are believed to have a hidden relationship with Bidzina Ivanishvilithe wealthiest person in Georgia, the secret influencer who supports the ruling party “Georgian Dream”.
Head of the private organization Judicial Watch Nazi Janezashviliwho has served for four years as a non-judicial member of the High Council of Justice, describes Chinchaladze as the enduring leader of the group along with Levan Murusidze.
She believes it was Murusidze who helped Chinchaladze form a concealed connection with Ivanishvili.
“They really hit it off. Bidzina Ivanishvili's influence relies on this judicial system.”
Mikhail Chinchaladze and Bidzina Ivanishvili declined to give a statement.
Murusidze did not respond to questions about his declarations and purchases of his partner, telling reporters that he was not married.
Affinity for extravagance
In a picture shared on Instagram in 2019, three middle-aged couples take a photo in a group on the steps of an ancient Greek ruin.
One of the men in the picture is Levan Murusidze, Judge of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal. However, he holds much more power than his position indicates: from 2013 to 2017, he was secretary of the High Council of Justice, the influential agency responsible for appointing Georgian judges.
Seated in front of him Lela Chania, Chief Secretary of the Tbilisi City Court. Officially, they are not married, but apparently, they live together. Murusidze has never refuted Georgian media reports calling the woman his wife.
The couple's relationship has documentary evidence, albeit unusual: in the records of Murusidze’s charitable donations. The judge supported the fund for the construction of the monastery complex, and the names of all donors and members of their families are listed on the website of the fund. Since at least 2010, Chania has been listed there among Murusidze’s relatives along with his parents. With such a relationship, she, and all her substantial assets, should appear in his annual declaration of property. Journalists examined Murusidze’s declarations up to 2006: Chania is not listed anywhere.
She told reporters that she did not live with Murusidze. “I don’t live anywhere permanently,” she said. “I have my own house, but if I stay somewhere else, it doesn’t concern you.”
Besides Greece, the couple also holidayed in Portugal this year, but journalists have not only evidence of their joint vacation: Burusidze and Chania’s cars were parked outside the judge’s house in the village of Dzegvi, northwest of Tbilisi. The journalists saw them leaving the house, each in their own car, and together. When once the journalists tried to approach the couple, they hurriedly left.
Perhaps Murusidze did not disclose his relationship with Chania, as it would be challenging to explain her wealth. She comes from a modest family, but in recent years – just since her relationship with Murusidze started – she has made numerous costly purchases.
Chania purchased two apartments and two plots in Tbilisi, and one apartment in the town of Batumi on the Black Sea in 2015 and 2016.
The total cost of the property was slightly more than $166,000. Journalists received contracts showing that she paid for the property without using a loan.
Before 2015, Chania was registered in a small 12-square-meter apartment, and her yearly salary in 2022 is 33,000 lari ($12,000). According to open sources, she has no business to bring in extra money.
If Chania saved her entire salary, it would take her at least 14 years to buy this property. She did not respond to questions from journalists about how she managed to buy the apartments and plots, and whether they really belong to her.
Chania also has other expenses. Her Facebook photos show that she likes luxury brand clothing and accessories. The photos were taken down after journalists accessed them. Her wardrobe includes many expensive brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Prada, Moschino, Furla, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, Casadei, and Valentino. She also owns many costly gold rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.
Murusidze officially earns just under 73,000 lari (about $26,000) a year, which is significantly more than Chania. However, it still does not explain her extensive property. Additionally, about half of his salary goes towards paying off loans for building a house, and he has no other known sources of income.
Property valued at more than ₾5,000 ($1,800) should be reported, but the couple did not do so.
He also suggested a possible reform. “As far as we know… there is no system in the Civil Service Bureau to check whether [люди] under one roof,” he said. “We need to introduce such a mechanism.”
Elguja Makalatiya, deputy head of the Civil Service Bureau, acknowledged that not only joint utility payments or money transfers between bank accounts, but also social media accounts can be used as evidence that people live together.
Besik Vekua, head of declaration monitoring at the Bureau, dismissed TI’s criticism. According to him, the Bureau cannot take action on the basis of press reports, but can reconsider the Murusidze case if it receives an official appeal.
Bureau representatives responded in writing to journalists' questions about Murusidze, saying they had checked over 2,000 property declarations in the last five years. They found violations in more than half of them and imposed fines, but only 11 declarations were referred to the prosecutor's office for consideration.
“Clan” and council
Murusidze is not the only influential judge who failed to declare all their assets and faced no consequences.
An investigation by Studio Monitor and the Georgian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that another influential judge, Mikhail Chinchaladze, did not declare several apartments and garages in the historic Vera district in central Tbilisi. The property was bought by his aunt for 105,000 lari ($63,000) in 2009. Two apartment owners in the same building told reporters that Chinchaladze himself owns the property registered to his aunt. Either way, he was required to declare the assets during the period when she lived with him in his house.
Chinchaladze did not respond to journalists' questions about the apartments and did not deny parts of the story after it aired. However, there don't appear to be any repercussions for him. The Civil Service Bureau told reporters that no violations were found in his 2019 declaration.
The cases of Murusidze and Chinchaladze are especially significant, as their independence was already in question.
According to informed sources, Murusidze and Chinchaladze will lead a group of judges that has taken control of the Georgian judiciary. Using their position, they protect their posts and may even influence the outcome of certain cases.
This group is known as the “clan” or “clan of judges”. It has no formal structure, and its size is unknown, although it is believed to consist of 30 people according to various sources. Law enforcement agencies have not probed the activities of this group, and there is no solid evidence of corruption among its potential members. Nonetheless, its existence and alleged harmful influence have been described by independent observers, high-ranking politicians and officials, and international organizations.
Kakha Tsikarishvili, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, is part of a group of independent lawyers advocating for judicial reforms. According to him, it is hard to pinpoint specific cases of corruption within the clan.
The group is believed to include the heads of many regional and district courts, as well as members of the High Council of Justice, which plays a leading role in the Georgian judiciary. This institution appoints all judges in the country and has the authority to reprimand or dismiss judges for poor performance, as well as to reward judges for good performance. Incentives may include lifetime appointments.
The council consists of eight judges, six non-judicial members (usually lawyers), and a chairman. Murusidze himself was the secretary of the council from 2013 to 2017. Many of the council’s judges, both former and current, are believed to have close personal and professional ties to Chinchaladze. In 2017, for the first time in the history of Georgia, the council appointed him as a judge for life.
Tsikarishvili, a former Supreme Court judge assistant, echoes the idea that the group of judges has established mutually beneficial relationships with the highest echelons of government in Georgia.
The European Commission has made a number of recommendations that need to be implemented in order to continue the dialogue on Georgia’s integration into the EU.
One of them is to “ensure a fully and truly independent, accountable and impartial judiciary.” The other is to “fulfill the obligations of ‘deoligarchization’ by eliminating the excessive influence of personal interests in economic, political and public life.”
The Commission did not mention Ivanishvili personally. But the June 20 rally had a very specific addressee, and MEP Rasa Yuknevicienė made it clear:
