1.5 Supporting the fair and transparent appointment of judges Throughout the OSCE, public trust in judicial systems is falling, at the same time as a marked lack of understanding of appropriate procedures for selecting and appointing judges. In Georgia, widespread concerns about the independence of the judiciary increased after the nomination of a group of judges, which was later halted following political protests. In early 2019, legislation on the appointment of Supreme Court judges was amended and a new appointment process began. The amendments increased the minimum number of Supreme Court judges from 16 to 28, and changed the 10-year terms to lifetime appointments for the first time in Georgian history. Drawing on its Kyiv Recommendations for Judicial Independence, ODIHR works with participating States to create clear laws that define procedures and criteria for judicial selection to ensure transparency. At the request of the Georgian Public Defender, ODIHR provided a legal opinion in April 2019 and advised the Georgian authorities about the need to address serious shortcomings in the legislation related to the appointment of Supreme Court judges. Later the same month, the Georgian Parliament passed the legislation and set the ground for a new appointment procedure. The final amendments addressed some of ODIHR’s recommendations. ODIHR subsequently launched a new and innovative exercise to monitor the judicial appointment process, following a request from the Georgian Public Defender to do so. The overall aim of this exercise was to strengthen judicial 18 DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE independence in Georgia and to provide an independent assessment of the appointment process and its compliance with OSCE commitments, international standards and guiding principles on judicial independence. An expert monitoring team, comprising one international and two national monitoring officers, were present at all the hearings of candidates for the Supreme Court, conducted by the High Council of Justice of Georgia, and the subsequent appointment procedures in the Georgian Parliament, from June to December. At the end of this process they issued two reports summing up their observation and assessment. Following the completion of the nomination phase and publication of the first monitoring report, but before the beginning of the appointments in Parliament, ODIHR undertook a mission to Georgia and presented the main findings to numerous stakeholders. The report and this visit directly contributed to a more structured and organized process in the second phase of the appointments procedure. The combination of legal reviews and monitoring activities by a neutral, external organization is a valuable tool for ODIHR to contribute to judicial independence and public awareness of its importance, while encouraging compliance with the fundamental principles of rule of law. This approach will also be valuable for a number of OSCE field operations and civil society organizations across the OSCE region that regularly observe challenges in judicial selection and appointment processes.