Individual Corruption

The Georgian government has made judicial reform a top priority since late 2005. One of the reform measures includes pay raises, which, according to the Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2007, has been raised with as much as 400% between 2005 and 2007, and is continuing to rise, according to the US Department of State 2009. Another reform, according to Freedom House 2011, is the introduction of jury trials in October 2010, aiming to increase public trust in the judicial system. Nonetheless, Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2010 reports that payment of bribes to judges is reportedly common and households surveyed in Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010 still perceive the judiciary to be the most corrupt institution in the country.

Business Corruption

According to the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2008, more than half of the surveyed companies do not believe that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted. Therefore, companies are recommended by the US Department of State 2011 to include a provision for the international arbitration of disputes when dealing with contracts between private parties.

According to the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, business executives indicate that Georgia performs relatively poorly in relation to other countries concerning judicial independence.

Political Corruption

Several international reports, such as the OECD Second Round of Monitoring Report Georgia 2010, have highlighted that judicial integrity in Georgia remains one of the main issues the government should address. Despite some reform efforts in recent years, the judicial system continues to suffer from undue political influence and corruption, according to the Heritage Foundation 2012. In a similar vein, an expert, cited in Transparency International's National Integrity System 2011, stated that the government has a strong interest in the outcome of court proceedings, and therefore asserts pressure on judges to make decisions that may go against the law, which corrupts the entire judicial system. 

Several court members were arrested during the year of 2010, as reported in the US Department of State 2010. One of the arrested officials was Dimitri Mchedlishvili, an appellate judge from the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. Mchedlishvili was arrested for allegedly taking over USD 2,000 in bribes to secure a favourable sentence for a defendant

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- Enforcing a commercial contract requires 36 procedures, costs 29.9% of the claim and takes 285 days.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give the independence of the judiciary from influences of members of government, citizens, or companies a score of 3.2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'heavily influenced' and 7 'entirely independent').

-Business executives give the efficiency of the legal framework for private companies to settle disputes and to challenge the legality of government actions and/or regulations a score of 3.4 and 3.1 respectively on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'highly efficient').

Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer Report 2010:
- 13.6% of households surveyed consider the judiciary to be 'extremely corrupt'.

- 5.3% of households who had contact with the judiciary in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

- Citizens give the judiciary a score of 2.9 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2008:
- 41.2% of companies surveyed believe that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted.

- 10.8% of companies surveyed identify functioning of the courts as a major constraint in doing business.

EBRD & World Bank: BEEPS Georgia 2008:
- 8% of companies surveyed state that bribery is frequent in dealing with courts.

- 5% of the companies surveyed identify the functioning of courts as a 'major problem' to doing business, while 6% identify it as a 'very severe problem'.