On 2 April, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office of the United Kingdom sanctioned two senior Georgian judges — Mikheil Chinchaladze, chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals and a former member of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, and Levan Murusidze, a judge of the same court and a current member of the High Council of Justice. The UK cited their involvement in serious corruption aimed at influencing judicial appointments and taking decisions in favor of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Both individuals are now subject to asset freezes under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021, meaning any assets or financial accounts held within British jurisdiction will be frozen.
According to the sanctions designation, the UK government has “reasonable grounds to suspect” that Chinchaladze and Murusidze have engaged in “serious corruption” by improperly leveraging their positions to manipulate judicial appointments and rulings in favor of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Among other things, Chinchaladze, the FCDO said, received financial benefits and a lifetime judicial appointment in exchange for using his influence as court chairman to direct favorable outcomes. The designation alleges he “accepted an advantage, namely a lifetime appointment to the Tbilisi Court of Appeals,” with the intention “to continue improperly performing his public functions by ensuring that decisions in the Tbilisi Court of Appeals favour the incumbent Georgia Dream Party.”
Similarly, Murusidze is accused of receiving improper advantages while serving on the High Council of Justice, including “a financial advantage as a reward for improperly performing his public functions” and a lifetime appointment to the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. The UK government said that he used his role to “ensure that judicial appointments and decisions favoured the incumbent Georgian Dream Party.”
Both judges had previously been targeted by international sanctions. In April 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly designated Chinchaladze and Murusidze, along with former judicial officials Irakli Shengelia and Valerian Tsertsvadze, under Section 7031(c) of the State Department’s visa restriction authority. Blinken said the individuals “abused their positions as court chairmen and members of the High Council of Justice, undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in Georgia’s judicial system.”
In December 2024, Ukraine also imposed sanctions on several Georgian officials, including Chinchaladze and Murusidze, accusing them of “selling out the interests of Georgia and its people.”
Mikheil Chinchaladze is considered one of the leaders of the so-called “judicial clan,” a powerful, pro-government group of judges who hold sway over their colleagues. Chinchaladze entered the judiciary from the Prosecutor’s Office in 2007, when the prosecutor’s office influenced the appointment of a group of judges to help it exert “informal control” over the judiciary. In 2016, the Georgian Parliament decided to amend the law to allow Chinchaladze to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge indefinitely. In 2022, the High Council of Justice (HCoJ) decided to re-elect the controversial judge Mikheil Chinchaladze, who was first elected to the post in 2017, as Chairman of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal for a five-year term.
Levan Murusidze is also considered to be one of the leaders of the so-called “Judicial clan”. Murusidze is connected to a number of high-profile cases such as Aleksandre Girgvliani’s murder, and the case of Rustavi 2 TV Station. At the same time, the currently imprisoned former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), Ioseb (Soso) Gogashvili, has stated that he worked with Murusidze in the past to “sort out” court disputes in favor of the Georgian Dream party.
by civil.ge
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