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 resignation 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.
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