Part 1: Does the appointing of Judges work for Georgia?

One of the most hotly debated questions on how to organize judiciary branch is whether to elect or appoint judges. The diversity of opinions is clearly visible across the democratic spectrum - while most European nations use appointment there are notable exceptions like US, Switzerland and Japan. It seems what works well for one nation might not work for the other. In the past years we, citizens of Georgia, have clearly demonstrated our strong disdain to selective treatment and refusal to live in an unjust society. Justice, as the previous government learned the hard way, is paramount to our sense of well-being. 

When I was twenty-two I had my first brush with the far-reaching hand of the American law. It was a trivial matter of speeding really, I was doing good 25 miles over the limit when the blue-and-red lights flashed in my rear mirror. I don't know why I was speeding. Maybe because I was young and bored, maybe it had something to do with the way that particular vehicle drove itself or maybe I wasn't speeding at all as claimed on the traffic accident report. Who knows. The important thing is I was pulled over, identified, questioned, warned and finally a gaunt officer in his middle ages scribbled something on his notepad and handed me a small, yellow piece of paper. The paper stated I was to appear in the court of law and contend my claim against the People of Illinois. The date for appearance was not given but the fineprint on the other side promised  there would be further communication on this.

I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of going mano-a-mano with the People of Illinois. I didn't really see how it would help my carefully calibrated sense of well-being. So, I did what any rational human would do - hired a sleazy lawyer to poof the problem away. His name was Mike and he was as slick as a whistle. We met in a coffee shop a few days after the incident. He listened to my story with an unreadable grin, then cheerfully informed me I would probably have to pay a hefty fine plus 6 to 12 months of probation. "It is in DuPage county, you see, their Judge is a pain in the rear, he actually has his office call the cops to come to the traffic case hearings" - he said and then proceeded with inspecting the little, yellow scrap of paper. "Good news!" - he whistled in a moment -"It's not in DuPage, it's in Cook county. You got lucky! That intersection was right at the county boundary". "Does it make a difference?" - I asked. "Oh, yea, tons. Cook county will be a cinch, they got real criminals there" - he laughed dubiously. That was that. Mike took the papers and left. I went home and checked out his story. It was true. DuPage was notoriously known for going overboard with petty misdemeanors. Cook county, on the other hand, was as lax as a Vegas AA meeting. In a week the whole thing was settled - no fines, no public records, no traffic schools, no insurance nonsense. I didn't mind it but this got me thinking - how was it possible for the same law to be upheld so differently literally across the street? How could these two judges have handled the same case so unequally? I didn't think think about it for too long though, I was twenty-two and my vehicle wanted to drive itself.

Many years later the same question came back with irksome somberness. In 2003 Rose Revolution brought a new power in charge of Georgian state - UNM. It made many promises but above all promised to fix the country's ailing Judicial system. The plan was  to drag it out of the swamp of corruption and incompetence it's been in for eternity. UNM had all the judges pass a well-publicized test to make sure it was merit that put them on the bench not favoritism. We all waited patiently. Hoping for the Judiciary system which would truly upheld the rule of law, bring justice to all and strike down corruption at any level of public life. Nine long years passed. Where are we now? Georgian prisons are overpopulated, inmates are treated beyond inhumanity, the first PM has been murdered under suspicious circumstances, horror stories of wealthy business owners being coerced into surrendering their profitable enterprises abound. In 2012 Heritage Foundation wrote the following assessment about Georgia - "The rule of law is not strongly enforced. Despite some reform efforts, the judicial process remains subject to political influence and corruption. The effectiveness of the court system has not improved notably as a result of the requirement that judges be tested before appointment. The protection of intellectual property rights is erratic and largely ineffective. Corruption continues to undermine all facets of economic freedom". The truth is we ended up where we started, the only difference is the scale. 

Apparently having Georgia's judges pass a merit test was not enough. Once all was said and done they ended nodding their heads to the hand that put them on the bench. Why didn't it work? Where did the system fail? What can we do differently this time?