The Tbilisi Court of Appeal considers election disputes, including the Central Election Commission's appeal against the decision of the Tetritskaro District Court, by a panel that includes Judge Dimitri Gvritishvili.
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Non-governmental organizations refer to Dimitri Gvritishvili as a member of the influential group of judges, known as the so-called clan. At the start of the session, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) and Transparency International - Georgia called for his dismissal. Representatives of the non-governmental organizations cited past statements made by Gvritishvili and argued that he would not be able to discuss the case impartially.
"I really don't hate the non-governmental sector. There are also representatives of non-governmental organizations in the hall whose cases we have discussed and satisfied," Gvritishvili said, adding that he saw no reason for self-exclusion. The decision on the issue of avoidance would be made by his colleagues.
The remaining two judges on the panel, Gocha Didava and Davit Akhalbedashvili, did not approve the motion for dismissal. As per their assessment, the judge's past statement could not affect his impartiality.
Giorgi Santuriani, head of the legal department of the Central Election Commission (CEC), opposed Gvritishvili's dismissal, calling the petition "unsubstantiated."
The Court of Appeal consolidated dozens of election-related appeals into one proceeding and assigned them to the same panel of judges for consideration. The GYLA demands the annulment of the results of all precincts in Eastern Georgia where elections were held using technology that violated the secrecy of voting, while the CEC is appealing the decision of Tetritskaro District Court Judge Vladimer Khuchua.
According to Nona Kurdovanidze, chairperson of GYLA, the election administration requests that the experiment conducted by Judge Khuchua and the ballots examined during the session not be considered as evidence. Additionally, Kurdovanidze stated that the CEC accuses Vladimir Khuchua of bias, which was confirmed by critical posts published by his wife on social media.
On November 4, Judge Vladimir Khuchua, unlike all other district court judges, made a precedent-setting decision - he confirmed the violation of vote secrecy and declared the electronic results of 30 election precincts in Tetritskaro and Tsalka invalid. The judge requested a counting machine, a ballot, a marker, and a framed envelope for the duration of the hearing. During the court session, a technical inspection was conducted, which revealed that the choice made when placing the ballots in the machine was visible.
