Denied Recusal, Judge Manana Kobakhidze Quits Constitutional Court

Judge Manana Kobakhidze has resigned from the Georgian Constitutional Court after her request to recuse herself from a case filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party to ban several opposition parties was refused.

“Pursuant to the Order No. 2 issued by the President of the Constitutional Court, the powers of Ms. Manana Kobakhidze as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Georgia were terminated prematurely, effective October 13, 2026, on the basis of her personal request,” the court said in its October 13 statement.

Kobakhidze is a founding member of the ruling Georgian Dream and served as an MP before being elected to the Constitutional Court in February 2017. The Constitutional Court judges serve 10-year terms. Judge Kobakhidze was elected court secretary in 2018, became deputy chairperson of the Court, and then chairperson of its Second Chamber in December 2021.

The resignation came a day after the court rejected her request to recuse herself from Georgian Dream’s lawsuit seeking to ban five opposition parties: the United National Movement (UNM), Lelo/Strong Georgia, Ahali/Coalition for Change, the Federalists and For Georgia. Kobakhidze had sought recusal on the grounds that her previous political activities and public statements could raise “reasonable doubts” over her impartiality in the case.

In her motion, she pointed to her past criticism of the United National Movement (UNM) and its members, some of whom now belong to other opposition parties targeted by the lawsuit. She noted that, as a human rights advocate and later a Georgian Dream lawmaker, she had publicly criticized UNM officials over alleged systemic crimes and human rights violations during their time in power and called for them to be held accountable for actions now cited in Georgian Dream’s constitutional complaint.

Not Enough Votes For New Judge?

Kobakhidze is not the first Constitutional Court judge to prematurely quit after Georgian Dream announced its plans to seek the ban of several opposition parties. In 2025, another judge, Irine Imerlishvili, resigned a year before the expiration of her tenure, without citing any specific reasons.

Manana Kobakhidze has been among the judges appointed through the parliament’s approval, but the Georgian Dream majority may now not be enough to elect a replacement.

Three of the nine judges of the Georgian Constitutional Court are appointed by the President, three are elected by Parliament by a majority of at least three-fifths of its full membership, and the remaining three are appointed by the Supreme Court. Judges are appointed to serve 10-year terms.

According to Vakhushti Menabde, a constitutional lawyer and one of the leaders of the Movement for Social Democracy, the Georgian Dream-led majority currently has 89 mandates, while it requires 90 votes to elect a Constitutional Court judge. Menabde said that it is for the same reason that the parliament has so far delayed electing the replacement for judge Merab Turava, whose term at the Court ended in 2025.

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The 9-member judicial body now has seven active judges, after two vacant seats were filled in September, with critics fearing that the appointments would leave the judicial body, long accused of pro-government leanings, now almost fully dominated by Georgian Dream loyalists.

Georgian Dream initially filed the constitutional lawsuit in November 2025, seeking to outlaw the United National Movement (UNM), Lelo/Strong Georgia and Ahali/Coalition for Change. The lawsuit was later expanded in April 2026 to include the Federalists, and again in September to add For Georgia, the only opposition party still represented in Parliament, leading the GD to resubmit the claim each time and thus reset the court’s maximum 9-month deadline to rule on the case.

Also Read:

• 23/09/2026 – Two New Constitutional Court Judges Appointed As Critics Fear ‘No More Dissenting Opinions’
• 16/09/2026 – Disputed Parliament Elects Davit Mamiseishvili as Supreme Court Judge
• 17/10/2025 – Judge Quits Constitutional Court Amid Looming Appeal to Ban Parties, Individuals from Politics