Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association respond to the fact that in the second quarter of 2021, the two most important policy documents - the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan and the Public Administration Reform Action Plan have not yet been developed. IDFI and GYLA call on the Government to pay more attention to the public administration reform and fight against corruption in the country, take into account challenges identified in these areas, and develop ambitious and effective policy documents in a timely manner. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. UN Women has analyzed gender and disability related data, existing in Georgia, and developed recommendations for their improvement. “The document contains a recommended minimum set of gender and disability indicators, which can be used, on the one hand, for monitoring of implementation of international and national commitments in the field of gender equality and inclusion of people with disabilities, and, on the other hand, for policy and program planning, monitoring and evaluation by governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. Besides indicators, the document outlines actions to improve access to quality data on policy planning taking into account gender and disability related needs in Georgia”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. The state is obliged to ensure inspection of a child rights related situation in a Ninotsminda boarding school immediately - the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. “Today, on May 7, by 8 pm, a non-governmental organization “Partnership for Human Rights” received a message from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee issued an interim measure, thus satisfying a May 5 appeal of the organization, and instructed the Government to ensure that a monitoring is carried out at the Ninotsminda boarding school by all relevant agencies”.  Read more… Source: phr.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender has published a special report – “Compliance of social and health care programs of self-governing bodies with the principle of equality”, which contains an analysis of compliance of municipal programs with anti-discrimination legislation. “The study found that some programs of local self-governments apply discriminatory criteria in terms of gender, disability, age, marital status and other grounds while determining target beneficiary groups, as a result of which a number of groups are left out of the program. Besides, there are used terms and regulations, which encourage discrimination against different groups and reinforce existing stigmas. In some cases, selection for participation in the program from people with similar needs is done without any justification”. Read more… Source:ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) publishes a report: “Propaganda narratives on Facebook during the 2020 parliamentary elections”... “The report contains a review of an activity revealed on the basis of a study of Facebook sites spreading propaganda narratives on issues related to values and outlines both quantitative and qualitative findings. The report also includes a review of coordination of sites with election subjects, as well as an analysis of messages of sites disseminating propaganda narratives in line with political discourse and electoral processes”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Visit the link to get familiarized with the Final Report on Social Media Monitoring for the 2020 Parliamentary Elections prepared by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED). “The report contains an analysis of main trends that took place in the social media space in Georgia from September 1 through November 21, 2020. In particular, it provides description of activities of official sites of political parties and candidates, registered in the elections, those of official sites of local self-government bodies, as well as results of observation on unofficial, anonymous sites, operating with political purposes, and other important trends aimed at influencing the will of voters in one way or another. Read more... Source: www.isfed.ge

Tbilisi. On April 21, the Public Defender presented a special report – “Impact of closure of so-called checkpoints in 2019-2020 years on legal situation of population living in the occupied territories”. “According to the opinion of the Ombudsman, formal regime, imposed by the de facto Government to regulate movement on the occupation line, as well as establishment of various barriers, such as unpredictable closures of so-called checkpoints, unlawful detentions, problems related to de facto documentation required for relocation and etc., restrict freedom of movement of residents of the occupied regions and create unjustified obstacles to them in terms of access to livelihoods. It is important to have the Government of Georgia use support, provided by the international community, and apply all possible mechanisms to protect rights of people living in the occupied territories. This includes negotiations with representatives of the occupation regime so as to convince them to let international missions access conflict regions”. Read more... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) presents a brief summary of main findings provided in the 2020 report of the US Department of State and an overview of important issues emphasized by civil society organizations, the Office of the Public Defender, media and the international community during the reporting period. “In regard to protection of human rights there were identified the following key problems: significant challenges existing in terms of independence of the judiciary; politically motivated investigations and prosecutions; cases of unlawful encroachment on the right to privacy; interference with the right to peaceful assembly and expression; and violent or threatening crimes committed against LGBT people”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

On 12 April 2021, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) published the Fourth Evaluation Round second compliance report for Georgia, where it assesses the country’s compliance with the recommendations issued in 2016.  By the IDFI, The low progress in implementing the GRECO recommendations clearly indicates a transition to a passive phase in the fight against corruption in the country. Out of 11 recommendations to be implemented for the prevention of corruption, the country managed to fully implement only two recommendations within 18 months, while the remaining nine recommendations are still to be implemented. The need to take action against corruption is also evidenced by the fact that in 2020, most of the international rankings indicate a deterioration of the corruption situation in the country, one of the reasons for which is high levels of corruption. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the Georgian government has not yet adopted a new Anti-Corruption Action Plan for 2021-2022.  Read more…   Source: idfi.ge

On March 30, this year the U.S. Department of State published 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The reports are developed based on the information received from U.S. embassies and international missions and include the reviews of human rights practices in countries all over the world, among them Georgia. 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Georgia includes various topics, which constitute the main directions of IDFI’s work. Namely in the preamble of the report, it is highlighted that during 2020 some of the main areas of concern in Georgia were linked with the independence of the judiciary, political bias of prosecution and law enforcement, and the right to assembly and manifestation. Among the other topics, the report also refers to the problems in the direction of freedom of speech and expression and fighting against high-level corruption. Read more…  Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information has prepared a study – “Staff employed at municipal N(N)LEs and LLCs and labor costs”. It is stated in the document: “The imbalance existing among amounts of labor remuneration of staff employed at municipal legal entities is particularly noticeable between the Tbilisi municipality and regions. The highest-paid positions are concentrated in Tbilisi. Besides, the pay gap in similar positions is often disproportionate to the pay gap existing in general among average wages of those hired not as staff. Respectively, the practice of current wage policy at municipal N(N)LEs contributes to deepening of social inequality between regions and the capital”. Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association presented a report to the public – “Results of a four-year monitoring of criminal trials”. The report serves to identify practical and legislative shortcomings, including positive trends, as a result of attendance of criminal trials and analysis of identified cases. There are reviewed in the report issues related to criminal proceedings carried out within the period from March 2016 through February 2020, as well as key trends from the beginning of monitoring to the present. Main findings of the report touch upon - preventive measures, implementation of proper judicial control over investigative actions and a plea agreement, shortcomings existing at various stages of a process. The report pays special attention to crimes preconditioned by family, drugs, and social backgrounds. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents the information regarding the expenditures of Kutaisi municipality from 2017 to December 2020, that amount to GEL 22,551,848 in total. The research compiles the information on remunerations, rewards/bonuses, additional pays as well as on the communication costs of the administrations, business trips, fuel, vehicle repair/diagnostics, and representative expenditures. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. On March 31-April 1, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC) and Management Systems Development Center (MSDC) held two-day online training on the Local Self-Government Index for regional organizations. “The Local Self-Government Index is a joint initiative of these organizations, which evaluates accountability and transparency of municipalities. The aim of the training was to introduce an evaluation methodology to the representatives of partner regional organizations. In the future they will evaluate the executive and representative bodies of municipalities based on this methodology. The assessment of municipalities will be launched on April 5, 2021. The training participants received both theoretical information and practical experience of the assessment of municipalities' accountability and transparency. They were provided with the details of the index methodology and discuss particular circumstances of the assessment process. The participants also got familiar with the information of quality assessment criteria and the methods to verify the information reliability”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia presents an evaluation of activities of the Parliament of the 9th convocation and relevant recommendations. “The parliament of the 9th convocation implemented a constitutional reform and the country completely moved to the model of parliamentary governance. The Parliament had to perform its legislative and supervisory functions during also the state of emergency and on the background of tense political developments, which fact further highlighted the shortcomings that show up in the process of activity of the Parliament during a number of years. Improvement of legislative norms has a positive impact on the parliamentary control practice. However, despite the progress, a problem still remains to be the role of the opposition in the parliamentary control process, as well as issues related to accountability and responsibility of members of both the Parliament and the Government”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. A survey of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) on “Transparency of the judiciary in Georgia” highlights key shortcomings existing in terms of proactive transparency of the judiciary. “Failure to execute a decision of the Constitutional Court in regard to accessibility to court acts remains to be a serious challenge. Incomplete disclosure of public information by courts and the High Council of Justice is problematic. There should also be mentioned gaps in maintenance of statistics in the common court system and its publication. Based on identification of existing gaps and challenges, the survey includes specific recommendations that are essential to be considered so as to improve transparency and openness of the judiciary”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), on March 22, 2021, there was published a joint conclusion of the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law in regard to Special Administrator related amendments to the Law of Georgia on Electronic Communications. “This conclusion of the Venice Commission once again highlights that hasty legislative changes made by the Parliament of Georgia and other state actors are problematic. Besides, the conclusion confirms that the Special Administrator institution threatens fundamental principles of a state of law and democracy”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more... Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia published information about the member of Batumi City Council and his son-in-law.  Transparency International Georgia found out that the former company of Batumi City Council public official received GEL 228,388 from electronic tenders and simplified procurements during 2019-2020, out of which GEL 143,426 comes from the Garden Association of Batumi Municipality. According to the decree, this association is supervised by the commission that is chaired by Irakli Pataridze - “It controls the activities of the city hall and its structural units in the field of action, and will submit a relevant report to the city council upon request”1. Accordingly, the commission should not only execute quality control of the municipal service but should investigate the purpose of the costs and corruption risks.  Read more…   Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a concept of a reform of the judicial system developed by non-governmental organizations. “The purpose of the concept is to facilitate institutionalization of the judicial system, its liberation from informal influences, promotion of its internal democratic processes and establishment of highest standards”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia and Fair Elections (ISFED) publish joint evaluations and recommendations in regard to amendments elaborated on the bases of a memorandum signed between political parties “Georgian Dream” and “Citizens” and meant to be made to the Election Code. “Besides, for election legislation and practice refinement purposes, there have been expressed opinions about solution of those problems, which had negative impact on an equal and free election environment during the entire election cycle. Attention is also paid to issues that are not addressed in the proposed draft legislative amendments, but are crucial in terms of improvement of an electoral environment and increase of credibility of election results in the country”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The study revealed that there are significant challenges in terms of transparency of the judiciary. In particular:  "The Parliament has not yet adopted necessary legislative amendments for ensuring the accessibility of court decisions, which significantly undermines the rule of law in the country; Incomplete publication of public information by the courts and the High Council of Justice is problematic; There are some challenges related to the production and publication of statistics in the system of common courts, creating difficulties in terms of the accessibility of statistics". Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes an analysis: Importance of a system of petitions for citizen participation: International examples and practice of Georgia. “It is important to keep the minimum margin, defined for collecting petitions, low at the initial stage so as to make sure that a comparatively high level of it does not have reverse effect and develop nihilistic mood within active citizens. Two aspects that have the utmost importance are accountability and transparency of public institutions, which imply proactive access to information on submitted, as well as addressed petitions, openness of the process of revision of successful petitions and substantiation of a final decision. Read more… Source: idfi.ge