Another DAAD scandal in Georgia? At least new questions, including for the University of Regensburg

Unfortunately, you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together, and only then do you realize what scandals are currently unfolding at the DAAD. A few weeks ago, the list of topics eligible for research grants starting this fall was published. Those familiar with the Georgian legal scene have discovered a topic associated with a prominent young employee of the regime.

It is widely known that the author of this work (roughly titled: Georgia's Administrative Procedure Code: Commentary on the Articles in the Light of Georgian, German, and Selected European Judicial Practice) is Goga K., whose full name we will not disclose for the sake of discretion. Goga was once respected by many decent people in Georgia as a friendly and committed young man who had also studied in Sweden.

A few years ago, however, he decided to actively cooperate with the Georgian Dream regime, specifically in one of its worst institutions, the High Judicial Council. This is now the very headquarters of the so-called clan of judges. Not only are key judicial positions filled from there, but, according to consistent reports, instructions on which verdicts are to be handed down are also issued there.

Is it a body where constructive cooperation is possible? The assessment of a long-time expert is crystal clear. The renowned German jurist Ulrich Hagenloch concludes that the Georgian judiciary can only be saved by abolishing the High Judicial Council, if at all.

What is Goga K. doing on this High Judicial Council? As a relatively young lawyer, he doesn't have much experience. Critics of the current judiciary point out that he was appointed just five days after his father, as a constitutional judge, issued a ruling that Georgian Dream so desperately wanted.

Goga also seems embarrassed that he serves on the Judicial Council. At least on LinkedIn, he doesn't list this activity—even though he lists 15 different other activities in detail. Someone clearly understands that he's involved in something terrible.

His activities for the High Judicial Council are not visible on Facebook. The English website of the High Judicial Council is poor, which is not surprising. Several members of the High Judicial Council have been sanctioned by several states. However, he is certainly available in Georgian.

The absence of any mention of his work at the High Council of Justice on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and generally in English and German, naturally raises the question: did Goga K. conceal his work for the High Council of Justice from the DAAD (and thus from the German taxpayer)? Does the University of Regensburg know that it has invited a man who is actively involved in the dismantling of the Georgian constitutional state? A man who has a sense of wrongdoing because he deliberately conceals his involvement in a nefarious organization? Did the inviting professor know this? If so, why would he or she invite a perpetrator to further his education with German taxpayer money while the Georgian government is constantly attacking Germany?

The university is actually required to issue an ethical statement. Here's the form.

Now, one might get the impression that the form is primarily about armaments issues, but the wording goes further and contains “possible conflicts with the principles of scientific ethics,” and the linked Leopoldina document , although not entirely up to date (November 2022), makes it clear that research should serve humanity and that one is committed to constitutionally protected goods.

The dismantling of democracy is not a constitutionally protected right. If the DAAD has not yet implemented this insight for bureaucratic reasons, it represents a massive gap, especially in the current situation. The damage is caused not only by this one piece of research by Goga, but also by the signal it sends. German institutions reward collaboration in an institution associated with injustice. If there is a cover-up on the CV, as LinkedIn suggests, the DAAD does not seem to take its own criteria seriously.

There are still no answers to these urgent questions. We would be very grateful for any useful information, including from people familiar with internal processes in Bonn, Berlin, and Regensburg.