Diana Pilia is a judge of the

Constitutional Court of Abkhazia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Abkhazia was created in 2016. Judges are elected by the People's Assembly with a two-thirds majority for fifteen year terms and may not be re-elected. Candidates are nominated by the President and must ha ...

and a former Head of the Cabinet Staff.

Early life

Pilia was born on 15 September 1967 in

Gudauta Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; ab, Гәдоуҭа, ''Gwdowtha''; russian: Гудаута, ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sukhu ...

. In 1989 she graduated in jurisprudence from the Faculty for History and Law of the

Abkhazian State University The Abkhazian State University is the only university in Abkhazia. It was founded in 1979 on the basis of the Sukhumi Pedagogical Institute. Its first rector was Zurab Anchabadze. The university consists the departments of physics and mathematic ...

Career

Since 1989, Pilia has worked in the Department for Public Administration and Law of the

, as senior lecturer, associate professor and deputy head. From 2003 until 2015, Pilia additionally worked as notary in

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

and between 2007 and 2010, she completed a

Candidate of Sciences Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

programme at the Moscow State Law Academy. In 2012, Pilia became chairwoman of the Association of Lawyers of Abkhazia, and she has cofounded the organisation of Businesswomen of Abkhazia. On 26 May 2015, Pilia was appointed as Head of the Cabinet Staff by President

Raul Khajimba Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1958) is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September ...

, succeeding

Leila Dzyba Leila Dzyba is a former Chief of the Cabinet Staff of Abkhazia. Dzyba was appointed on 22 October 2014 by newly elected President Raul Khajimba. On 26 May 2015, Khajimba appointed Diana Pilia as new Head of the Cabinet Staff. After working in th ...

. Following opposition protests against the government of Khajimba in December 2016, the opposition and the government reached an agreement whereby the opposition could nominate two members of the Constitutional Court. It selected Pilia after its two initial candidates respectively refused and were rejected by the People's Assembly. Pilia was elected on 10 February 2017 with 25 votes in favour, 2 against and 2 spoiled ballots.

References

Living people Chiefs of the Cabinet Staff of Abkhazia 1967 births People from Gudauta {{Abkhazia-poli-stub