A/HRC/7/3/Add.2 page 46 198. The Government informed that the process of judicial reform is carried out in line with the Judicial Reform Strategy and Criminal Law Reform Strategy and Action Plan of the Government of Georgia. The “High School of Justice” in its new format is to become operative by the end of 2007. The aim of the School is to deliver professional training to future judges with the purpose of staffing the common court system with highly qualified specialists. The selection competition has already been held for justicelisteners (a person who is designated to be a judge) and the curricula for the training course have been prepared. In addition, periodic retraining and upgrading of qualification of judges with the purpose of their professional refinement remains one of the main aims of the School. Only graduates of the School will be eligible for the selection process. In order to fill existing judicial vacancies, competitions are periodically held by the High Council of Justice. During September 2006 to August 2007, 32 new judges were appointed. 199. As for the independence of the judiciary, the High Council of Justice conducts the selection process of candidates designated to be judges. Any Georgian citizen, aged 28 or above can become a judge if he/she has high legal education, a minimum of five years of legal qualification, knows the State language and has passed the qualification exam. The latter is part of the competition for the selection of judges which is held by the High Council of Justice and consists of two parts: the written exam and the interview process. During the interview such criteria as qualification, reputation, analytical thinking and personal characteristics of the candidate are assessed. In case of successfully passing both stages of exam, the candidate is appointed judge by the High Council of Justice, the decision of which is subsequently signed by the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia. 200. With regard to economic factors that may influence judges, it is noteworthy that the salaries of judges increased substantially: the salary of Constitutional and Supreme Court judges from Georgian laris (GEL) 3100 (about US$ 1750) up to GEL 4100 (US$ 2320); the salary of first instance common court judges from GEL 1550 (US$ 878) to GEL 1750 (US$ 990) and in second instance appeal courts – from GEL 1750 (US$ 990) to GEL 3100 (US$ 1750). Taking into consideration that the salary of the President of Georgia is GEL 4000 (US$ 2266), a Minister is GEL 3000 (USD$ 1700), and of a Member of the Parliament is GEL 750 (US$ 425), it appears that judges’ salaries are sufficient. 201. In order to fully ensure that a judge’s decision cannot be evaluated by anyone except higher judicial authorities, the Parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of Georgia to decriminalize illegal decisions by judges. The legality of a court’s decisions can only be assessed as a result of disciplinary procedures initiated on the basis of the relevant law and be dealt with by the Disciplinary Panel and Chamber only. Therefore, judges cannot be held criminally liable for their decisions. 202. The Law on the “Rules of Communication with Judges of General Courts of Georgia” adopted by the Parliament on 11 July 2007 regulates the ex parte