Tbilisi. "Transparency International - Georgia" and journalist Paul Rimple have created a joint work with the above title. As described on the organization's web page, written in the format of a novel, the book tells about the businessmen and companies, which owned or still own significant amount of shares in important sectors such as broadcasting, communications, advertising market, import and distribution of oil, pharmaceutical market and minerals. The book also describes the links of these companies with the representatives of former authorities or persons associated with them. Information in the book covers only the period for 2003-2012. A Georgian version of the book will be uploaded on TI Georgia's web page in the nearest future. At this point, the English soft version of the book For the full text. Source: transparency.ge  

Tbilisi. The Economic Policy Research Center has published a new report titled "Exposing Cases of Elite Corruption and State Pressure on Business". The report was released on December 18. It describes main characteristics of elite corruption, court practice and the specific examples. Non-targeted spending of public funds and the tendencies to abuse official powers by the persons employed in public service are the main signs of elite corruption. Examples similar to elite corruption leader to the state favoritism and internal deals with the individual business representatives. Such deals are attested by the absence of competition in Georgia, unequal treatment of business representatives, as well as the imposition of fines and unequal administration of the court cases, which was exposed during the research at the example of concrete cases. For the full text. The Study. Source:osgf.ge

Tbilisi. On December 14, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has released information on the main areas of spending from the reserve funds of the President of Georgia in 2010-2012. The information posted on GYLA's web page states: "In light of the high public interest towards the topic, GYLA releases the information on the main areas of spending of funds allocated from the reserve funds of the President of Georgia under the 2010-2012 state budgets of Georgia. At that, available information covers the full period for 2010-2011, and the period for January-September for 2012." Main areas of spending of funds from the reserve funds of the President of Georgia, 2010–1012 Source: gyla.ge

Adjara. On December 14, in relation to completion of the anti-corruption week, Transparency International - Georgia held a meeting in the Batumi Press-Cafe, which sort of summarized the entire week event. Meeting participants have noted that since 2004 Georgia has achieved significant success in terms of combating various forms of corruption. Yet, there is still a danger in the country that high officials abuse their power and thus the corruption is strengthened anew. Representatives of Transparency International - Georgia believe that introducing the mechanism of mutual control in the governing system, enhancing public agencies and ensuring the political neutrality of the prosecutor's office is important for setting up the anti-corruption system. The students and local media and CSO representatives have attended the summarizing meeting.

Adjara. On December 13, as part of the anti-corruption week, Transparency International - Georgia has demonstrated the film in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center – "Property Rights in Georgia: Svaneti and Adjara". The documentary described the expropriation of land plots and the subsequent processes, as well as the current state of victims and the problems caused by the expropriation of land plots. The meeting ended with the discussion, where the CSO and media representatives, students and victims have discoursed on the ways of solving this problem.

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has held a public discussion. Organizers of the meeting have presented the monitoring results of the official Facebook pages of 19 public institutions of Georgia, 10 political entities and 6 media outlets carried out as part of the project, followed by the discussion. The participants have discussed topics such as social networks and the citizen participation in the formulation of public policies, as well as the use of Facebook platform for ensuring citizen participation in the public policy. The discussion was held as part of the project "Development of Electronic Participation in Georgia". The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information plans to organize other discussions on the use of electronic platforms and web pages. It is planned to organize a meeting with the representatives of the Public Relations Offices of public institutions as well. For the full text. Source:idfi.ge  

Tbilisi. On December 10, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has presented the information on the secret expenses and the funding scheme related to the construction of the Kutaisi Parliament. It turned out that approximately 347 million GEL were wire-transferred for the construction of Parliament and the Government House in Kutaisi, while the owners of the companies carrying out the construction works of the Parliament are the state officials. For the full text. Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International – Georgia has released a new report on December 10. According to the organization's web page, it concerns the largest construction scandal, covering the activities of the construction company "Center Point Group". In accordance with the organization's page in the social network, the report was presented in two cities simultaneously – Tbilisi and Batumi. This issue has triggered huge interest and the events were attended by affected clients, their attorneys and representatives of company "Dexus".Transparency International – Georgia believes that the new government must demonstrate interest in the "Center Point Group" case and launch an in-depth investigation of details. The Report – Center Point Group – Georgia's Biggest Construction Scandal. Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has presented on December 9 the report "Freedom of Information in Georgia – 2011".The report was drafted by GYLA's monitoring group, which carried out the study in 40 administrative agencies of Georgia. The study analyses the practices of the Parliament's administration, the ministries, the Government Chancellery, President's administration, judicial system, the CEC, National Bank, independent commissions, administrations of city halls and the Sakrebulos of self-governing cities. For the full text. The report – "Freedom of Information in Georgia – 2011". Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information will hold a public discussion on December11 on the effectiveness of using the social network Facebook in the political discussion and planning in Georgia. The participants will discuss how properly is this network used for communicating between the citizens and various institutions or political entities, publicizing the problems of the society and resolving the challenges.At the start of the meeting the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information will present the key monitoring results of web pages of 19 public institutions, 10 political entities and 6 media outlets.Please confirm your participation in advance by e-mail. For the full text. Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has carried out the monitoring of online resources of the Georgian judicial authorities, which included the determination of the quality of information posted on official web pages of the Georgian judicial authorities and the technical shape (online accessibility) of the web pages.17 official web pages of the Georgian judicial authorities were selected as part of the monitoring. Following the completion of monitoring by the Institute, each court has received respective monitoring papers depicting the statistical data on the research of official web pages of the judicial authorities, identified problems and respective recommendations. For the full text. Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International has released the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2012, in which Georgia was awarded 52 points on a 100-point scale, where the lowest point - 0 stands for highly corrupt, and 100 - for the highly clean public sector.In the rankings Georgia shares 51st place with the Seychelles, but is ahead of several EU-member states, including the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, and is slightly behind Rwanda, Lithuania, Costa Rica and Hungary.The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures the perception of corruption in the public sector in 176 countries. For the full text. Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. As part of the media monitoring over the coverage of parliamentary elections, the Human Rights Center has released two reports of the last period, covering the results of media monitoring from 22 October - 4 November and November 5-18.Within the project framework, the monitors of the Human Rights Center have observed the secret political, social and political advertisings aired through the following television channels: "Imedi", "Rustavi 2", "Kavkasia", "Maestro" and "9th Channel". Media Monitoring Report (22 October - 4 November) Media Monitoring Report (5-18 November) Source: humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has implemented the project "Study of Best Practices of Access to Public Information", which aimed at enhancing the accountability and transparency of Georgia's public sector.As part of the study the authors have examined the content of public information published on the electronic resources of the Georgian public institutions and the form of posting of such information. At the same time, the project focused on studying the best international practices of access to public information. To this end, the authors of the study have selected the foreign analogues of the Georgian public agencies. Emphasis in this respect was made on the states with best practices: the United States of America, Great Britain / Scotland and Estonia.The study of international practices has revealed the modern trend, according to which in order to secure the transparency and accountability of its own activities, the state structures make available the data of interest to the public. The study has demonstrated also that in case of almost all agencies, the official web pages contain information such as the detailed information on the management; general contact information; description of the agency's structure and procedure of activities; strategic plans and action plans; projects and programs; quarterly and annual activity reports; legal acts; access to public information and the detailed description of procedure for requesting such information; etc.The project was implemented with the support of the "Good Governance in Georgia" (G-3) Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Study. Source:idfi.ge

Guria. The local monitoring groups have carried out the monitoring in the Baileti and Tkhinvali communities over programs and projects implemented in 2011 by the municipality in the villages of these communities. Further, the monitoring group has conducted in these villages the public opinion poll, the results of which were reflected in their report. The community leaders have presented the conclusions and recommendations developed as a result of monitoring to the local self-government, and the news story was aired through the local television. The monitoring was carried out as part of the "Public Monitoring for Changes” project, funded by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.

Tbilisi. From July 1 on for four months, the expert group of the "Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information” (IDFI) and the "Center for Post-Soviet Studies” (CPSS) has monitored the official Facebook pages of the 19 public institutions of Georgia, 10 political entities and 6 media outlets. The study covers the situation in the social networks from July 1 until October 16.The study aims to identify the degree of effective communication among the citizens and governmental agencies, political parties and media outlets on the social networking pages. The study focuses on the role of the social network Facebook in the communication of citizens with the state institutions, political parties and media outlets, how effectively can one get familiar with the activities through the social networks; how effectively is the communication established through Facebook; to what extent are the citizens of Georgia ready to get involved in the process of political planning, discussion and decision-making, and how diverse are the applications and services offered by the state institutions, political parties and media outlets to the citizens for them to express their ideas.The primary results of the study were released in September and they included the monitoring results for the pre-election period (July-August), while the present study summarizes the monitoring results as for the period before the parliamentary election, as well as for the polling day itself and after the announcement of the election results. The Study. For full text

Tbilisi. On November 12 the Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association presented the study – "Gaps of the Criminal Justice and Recommendations”. The new Criminal Procedure Code was enacted in 2010. In the study GYLA has examined as the legislative environment, as well as the developed practice and concluded that there are still gaps such as the conformity of norms regulating the detection of crime and investigation with the European standards on human rights, insufficient mechanisms of securing the impartiality of the jury trials institute, etc.Based on the European standards of human rights, GYLA offers to relevant agencies concrete recommendations for the elimination of these problems. For full text. Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi.  PMC research center and the "Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research" have disclosed at 11 am on November 2 the results of monitoring over several programs of the Tbilisi budget for 2011-2012. The research covered the Tbilisi Reserve Fund, Pre-School Education Program and the city's cleaning program.At the presentation the authors of the research spoke about the economic and legal issues of listed programs.The presentation has resulted in the discussion and the speakers have answered all questions of the audience. For full text. Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The representatives of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, the Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT) and the Penal Reform International have visited the Rustavi Institution #16 on October 31. They met and talked with the Director of the institution, prisoners placed in single cells, convicts placed in the "A", "B" and "C" buildings, as well as the family members of prisoners gathered at the entrance of the institution."It is quiet in the institution, the prisoners deny any attempts of chaos instigated by them. During the visit, two prisoners placed in single cells, as well as few co-convicts from their cells were on a hunger strike in the "A" building (...) Their key demand concerns the dismissal of the Director and those old staff members that practiced inhumane treatment of prisoners, as well as certain illegal limitations imposed by the administration", - says the statement released by the organizations.The Statement. Source: gyla.ge

Guria. On October 25, the representatives of the "Democratic Development Union of Georgia” have visited the village Chanieti of the Ozurgeti Municipality. Pursuant to the regulations of the Ozurgeti Municipality Sakrebulo, the Sakrebulo deputies must meet their voters in the village administration building once a month.This meeting is important and acceptable for the voters in that in the administrative building of their village they can raise any issue, request or problem, and the representative of the administration of the Ozurgeti Municipality Sakrebulo has to write down all these issues in the protocol.For monitoring purposes, NGO representatives have visited village Chanieti at 1 pm. They could not find either the Sakrebulo deputy or the administration’s representative in the administrative building.

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has carried out the study, under which the official web pages of 16 courts within the Georgian judicial system were monitored and the degree of their information transparency and technical order was evaluated. According to the study, only 16 out of 41 judicial authorities of Georgia run official web pages. The study carried out by IDFI has demonstrated that the majority of web pages of the Georgian judicial authorities is less informative for the users in terms of online transparency, while in respect of the technical order index, is absolutely inconsistent with the contemporary web-standards. For full text. The study  "Online Transparency of Judicial System in Georgia”. Source: idfi.ge

Guria. The presentation was held in the assembly hall of the Young Teachers’ Club on October24, at which the members of this organization presented the results of monitoring carried out by them.The process of sanitary-hygiene monitoring of the water and junctures in the Guria-based public schools took place from 1 May 2011 to 30 July 2012, and along with the "Union of Young Teachers” of Ozurgeti, the representative of the US Peace Corps has participated in its implementation.The monitoring aimed to establish the degree of consistency of wet junctures (water taps and toilets) in the public schools of the Guria Region with the recommended education norms and standards of Georgia.Representatives of the Ozurgeti-based NGOs, local media, local self-government, public schools and the Education Resource Centers have attended the presentation of monitoring results.