US Department of State publishes new report on human rights in 2020. Document also talks about some significant human rights issues in Georgia, such as “the independence of the judiciary along with detentions, investigations and prosecutions widely considered to be politically motivated; unlawful interference with privacy; limited respect for freedom of peaceful assembly and association”, etc.

According to the report, Georgia’s “government took steps to investigate some officials for human rights abuses, but impunity remained a problem, including a lack of accountability for the inappropriate police force used against journalists and protesters during June 2019 demonstrations”.

The document noted that “there remained indications of interference in judicial independence and impartiality. Judges were vulnerable to political pressure from within and outside the judiciary”.

It cited the concerns by the Public Defender’s Office, the Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary, and the international community that highlight the existence of “the judicial clan” - a group of non-reformist judges holding sway of their colleagues in the system - among the central problems of the judicial independence. The document referred to “the clan” some nine times in the lengthy piece about the court.

The report also noted that “the long-standing practice of transferring judges from one court to another also remained a problem,” with the “unsubstantiated” decisions made by the High Council of Justice.