Republic Of Georgia Judges Visit State Of Georgia Judges

MARIETTA, GA - From Cobb County Superior Court: Four trial judges and the lead jury coordinator from the Republic of Georgia are visiting Cobb County Superior Court the week of Oct. 16, to observe jury trials and study our judicial process surrounding them. The visit comes as part of a cooperative effort between the Georgian judiciary, the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training and the State of Georgia’s Administrative Office of the Courts. The program was developed as an initiative to promote the transparency and independence of the Republic of Georgia judicial system, to assist the Georgia judiciary in court and jury trial management and to strengthen the rule of law in the Republic of Georgia.

“We are thrilled to have four new Georgian judges and their jury coordinator visiting our court,” Administrator Tom Charron said. “The opportunity to play a part in this initiative is exciting and rewarding for both our courts, and we are proud to demonstrate our jury trial system, and how it works to uphold the rule of law.”

The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia is assisting the Republic of Georgia judiciary by conducting a series of activities to help support this effort. Together with the Georgia AOC, they have selected a small team of judges who will train and mentor the Georgian judges over the course of the project, which has been ongoing for several months. Senior Cobb Superior Court Judge Jim Bodiford put together a team that includes Superior Court Judge Ann Harris, Senior Superior Court Judge Jack Partain and State Court Judge Ben Studdard, along with Mike Cuccaro, AOC Assistant Director. The team spent a week in the Republic of Georgia in February and again in June, observing court proceedings, consulting with their counterparts and providing training on a variety of judicial and courtroom management subjects.

“We can try to explain to folks how we as judges manage our court business, and in particular our jury trials, but a real life demonstration, like a picture, is worth a thousand words,” Judge Harris said. “It’s a bit like the difference between going to law school and actually practicing law.”

In May of this year, three other trial judges from the Republic of Georgia, along with the chairman of the Georgia Common Courts, visited Cobb Superior Court and observed the jury trial experience before Judges Harris and Studdard. The visit proved to be so beneficial to the overall mission of the project, the decision was made to allow four new judges to return and observe jury trials in a similar fashion.

“While our criminal justice system is not perfect, we do have almost 250 years of steadily working to improve the practice and procedure of jury trials in this country,” Judge Harris said. “Our hope is some of our experience – both good and bad – will be useful to the Georgian judiciary as they work to strengthen their own jury trial process. We have all been impressed with the great progress the Georgians have made in such a short time in implementing jury trials in their country, and look forward to continuing our partnership with them.”

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia has made great strides in developing a criminal justice system modeled after the U.S. system. Jury trials are a fairly new way of handling cases for the Georgians, and until recently, were only used in cases of murder and public corruption.

Image via Cobb County Superior Court