Judge Robert Carolan – a U.S. judge with 34 years of experience as a trial court judge, 9 years of international experience, and 17 years as a prosecutor – began  his long-term shadowing and mentoring of Rustavi City Court and Gardabani Magistrate Court judges specialized in civil and administrative cases. 

Based in Tbilisi, over the next six months Judge Carolan will observe civil and administrative judicial proceedings, hold individual meetings with Georgian judges, and introduce judges to topics of American jurisprudence that are important and of interest to them. 

Judge Carolan had an orientation meeting with the USAID Rule of Law Program Chief of Party Giorgi Chkheidze and U.S. Judge Joseph Bellipanni, who is conducting long-term shadowing at Tbilisi City Court. On November 29, he also met with administrative and civil law judges and staff of Rustavi City Court, and had a court tour to learn more about the court structure and case management systems. 

As part of his mission, Judge Carolan will also participate in activities planned by the USAID Rule of Law Program to increase the skills of legal professionals in Tbilisi by strengthening and supporting the newly established judges’  practice groups on women’s rights, child rights, and freedom of expression. The Rule of Law Program plans to invite additional U.S. judges to conduct similar missions, with American judges expected to begin long-term shadowing assignments in other regions of Georgia.

About Judge Carolan:

Robert Carolan is a former Minnesota First Judicial District judge for Dakota County, Minnesota. He earned a Juris Doctor degree with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minnesota.

In the United States, Judge Carolan served for 23 years as a trial judge in the district court in the First Judicial District of Minnesota. He then served another 11 years as a senior trial judge. Prior to that, he worked for 17 years as a trial attorney handling cases involving first degree murder, organized crime, terrorism, and complex product liability disputes. For eight years, he served as the chief prosecutor and office administrator of a prosecutorial staff of more than 40 professionals. Judge Carolan worked for 18 years as an adjunct instructor of law at William Mitchell College of Law. He served for four years as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota.

In the international space, he served as an international judge for seven years at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo, for one year in the appellate division of the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for six months with the United National Interim Mission in Kosovo. He also served as Chairperson of the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and consulted on the development of the Constitutional Court for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.