Tbilisi. On January 30- February10, 2020, within the EU-funded project “Facilitating Implementation of Reforms in the Judiciary (FAIR)”, CRRC-Georgia conducted a phone survey to understand people’s knowledge of and attitudes towards the Supreme Court appointment process. “The public is divided in their trust towards judicial institutions, such as the High Council of Justice, Supreme Court, and the court system in general. More than half of the population has heard of the Supreme Court justice appointment process, however most of them do not trust the process and believe that the Parliament of Georgia did not lead the appointment process fairly. Despite this, few people found the Supreme Court appointment process to be among the most important events of the Autumn/Winter of 2019-2020. The majority of people in Georgia say that they have never heard about the candidates. Among those who are aware of the appointment process, attitudes are more negative than positive”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a research: Georgia in the Rule of Law Index 2020.  “The purpose of the IDFI research is to review indicators of the Global Rule of Law Index in Georgia as of 2020, compare them with those of previous years, identify problematic fields and show trends that have become possible as a result of evaluation by the Rule of Law Index. According to the Global Rule of Law Index 2020, the state of the rule of law in Georgia is rated at 0.60 points (maximum 1 point). Georgia ranks 42nd out of evaluated 128 countries. Based on these indicators, position of Georgia has deteriorated by 0.01 points and 1 step compared to the previous year”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association respond to an unlawful decision of “Georgian Manganese” LLC in regard to unilateral reduction of salaries. “Our organizations respond to a statement, released by “Georgian Manganese” LLC on March 20, 2020, related to partial suspension of a production process of the Chiatura mining-enrichment plant, as well as reduction of salaries of those employed, due to a protest of Shukruti population, and consider that this decision grossly violates norms, stipulated by the Labor Code of Georgia, represents an obvious attempt to confront residents of Shukruti and people working at the company, and is a result of failure of the state to fulfill its obligation of a proper monitoring over terms of a license of the company”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. GIZ’s Law Program publishes Georgian-German Journal of Comparative Law, 2/2020 Edition. „Please find download link below. Interested authors are kindly invited to participate in upcoming editions“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. According to information of part of civil society organizations in Georgia, the process of selection of a candidate for judge to be nominated at The Hague Court has been conducted opaquely and with faults. “The coalition considers that the Government of Georgia did not demonstrate due responsibility while following the rule and procedure for selection of a candidate for judge to be nominated from Georgia, that is why the Government failed to ensure carrying out of the selection process in an open, transparent and fair manner, and thus endangered successful election of the candidate for judge of the Hague Court nominated from Georgia. Taking this into account, a hearing, conducted today at the Parliament of Georgia, is only of a formal nature and cannot ensure nomination of an independent candidate”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) releases a statement in regard to a free legal consultation for citizens whose labor rights have been violated.  “We are aware that a number of those employed have lost their jobs or have their labor rights been otherwise violated. In some cases, employers sent their employees on forced and unpaid leave. There are also instances when employees got their salary or part of it deducted without respective legal basis and justification or they were forced to violate the rule of self-isolation and go to work. This is just a small list of possible violations of labor rights. To receive free legal consultation, you can apply to our partner organizations – the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center and Solidarity Network. Lawyers will provide you with information regarding your rights and legal remedies as far as it is possible. If necessary, they will assist you in preparing a claim or other legal documentation”, - is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the Russian Federation paid compensation to those of citizens affected as a result of a collective deportation from Russia in 2006 who had filed individual complaints in the European Court of Human Rights. “At this stage, the Russian Federation has transferred compensations to 7 persons under defense of GYLA that were assigned to them on the basis of the March 26, 2019 decision of the European Court, while in relation to one applicant, GYLA continues to communicate with the Russian Federation”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

GIZ's Law Program publishes the publication: Labour Case Law (Compilation of Court Decisions), Zakaria Shvelidze, 2020, Tbilisi. Source: The organization’s web page in a social network

Tbilisi. The Coalition publishes the statement on nominating Nino Kadagidze as the chair. “Significantly, the HCOJ made the decision of nominating her upon consultations with Supreme Court judges only, behind closed doors. Judges from the first and second instance courts, as well as civil society representatives and other interested parties, were not involved in these discussions. Given the above questions towards the selection process and the history of judge Kadagidze’s appointment to the supreme court, the Coalition considers the nomination of Nino Kadagidze’s candidacy for the high post of Chair of the Supreme Court of Georgia unjustifiable and calls on members of Parliament not to support her candidacy”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia published a special report on the protection of procedural rights of juvenile defendants, witnesses and victims in the area of criminal justice.  The project was carried out on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia and the Initiative for the Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Groups (non-commercial legal entity), with the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  The purpose of the project was to evaluate, by observing trials, the quality of protection of the rights of children in conflict with the law and juvenile witnesses/victims during court hearings. Trials were monitored from July to December 2019 in three major cities, namely in the City Courts of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Rustavi.  Read more…   Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center releases a statement in regard to the process of selection of Chairperson of the Supreme Court. “On March 9, at a sitting held after a few weeks gap, the High Council of Justice had a discussion about presenting a nominee for Chairperson of the Supreme Court to the Parliament. It is noteworthy that this issue was not mentioned in the agenda preliminarily published by the Council and the public was not informed in advance that the matter would be discussed specifically at the March 9 sitting”, - is noted in the statement, - “We call on the High Council of Justice of Georgia to: carry out the process of selection of a candidate for Chairperson of the Supreme Court openly and transparently; nominate a candidate with relatively high public confidence, which fact should also exclude appointment of a person, having particularly negative reputation, as the Chairperson of the Supreme Court”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary responds to significant gaps existing in disciplinary proceedings against judges. “Despite passing four waves of a reform in recent years, the current system of disciplinary liability of judges cannot ensure fairness, objectivity and effectiveness of this process, which fact is conditioned by a power concentrated in the hands of those at influential group and gaps in legislation”, - is noted in the statement released by the Coalition. Read more… Source: http://coalition.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the Parliament unjustifiably refused to give an employee leave and dismissed from work. On February 26, the Kutaisi Court of Appeal ruled that in May 2018 the Parliament of Georgia unjustifiably refused an employee to take leave and dismissed from work. With the assistance of GYLA, the plaintiff filed an appeal against the decision on denial of use of the right to take leave and dismissal from work in the Kutaisi City Court, which did not satisfy the appeal. The Kutaisi Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the first instance court and ruled that arguments of the Parliament were not convincing. This decision has not entered into force yet and the Parliament of Georgia retains an opportunity to continue the dispute in the Supreme Court”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

GIZ Law Program publishes a handbook: Proposal for reform of the Law of Unjust Enrichment. An electronic version of the publication can be downloaded from the following link... Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On February 24-25 GCRT conducted a training on Istanbul protocol implementation in Tbilisi. The training was held at Human Rights House Tbilisi and was attened by the representatives of Georgian Young Lawyers' Association ( GYLA) and professionals from GCRT's office in Gori. “During two days sessions, experts and participants discussed the topics of investigation and documentation of torture and ill treatment, as well as medical ethics and general guidelines for gathering evidences and documenting the allegations”. Read more… Source: gcrt.ge

The National Bureau of Enforcement with the cooperation of the project “Better Commercial Law and Legal Practice in Georgia” – co-financed by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), continues trainings of state bailiffs for the activities of private bailiff. With the support of the project, a training module was created, 9 local trainers were trained and certified and a relevant text-book was developed. Read more… Source: Social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Violated rights of protesters and journalists have not been restored. “On the basis of Articles 166 and 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, police officers arrested several protesters for violating public order and disobeying police requirements. The detainees were not given sufficient time and means to properly defend themselves in court. The court sentenced them to 30 days of imprisonment. To date, actions taken by police officers against protesters and journalists have not been investigated, and no perpetrators have been identified and punished. The Code of Administrative Offenses, which was adopted during the Soviet Union and used to sentence protesters to imprisonment, fails to meet requirements of a due process, lacks sufficient procedural guarantees, and does not provide an opportunity of impartial and fair hearing”, - is stated on the website of GYLA. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Proper representation of interests of children is not still ensured. “The complainant requested at the national level to urge the court to take into consideration the desire of her minor nieces and designate the residence of their aunt as their place of residence. Social workers were engaged into the trial stage as representatives of the children. In the final decision, national courts assigned the children to their father. However, courts and social workers took the decision without taking into consideration best interests of the children and their desire to live with their aunt”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On February 12-14, with the support and organization of the project “Better Commercial Law and Legal Practice in Georgia” co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the trainers of the enforcement system successfully completed the Course on Enhancing Adult Learning Methodology. Read more… Source: The page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: How Georgia fulfills decisions of the European Court.  “So far, the European Court judgments and rulings on 129 cases against Georgia have been sent to the Committee of Ministers for supervision. Within the last 14 years, the Committee of Ministers terminated its supervision over 81 out of 129 cases, as it considered them executed. While the process of enforcement of the remaining 48 cases continues in the Committee of Ministers. Respectively, Georgia still has to execute judgments/rulings of the court on 48 cases”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) responds to a ruling made by the Rustavi City Court on February 12, 2020, which has justified degrading treatment committed by Teimuraz Abazov, the former Mayor of Marneuli. According to the appraisal of the organization, “At the final stage of the process, the Prosecutor's Office unsubstantially and suspiciously reduced the charge to Teimuraz Abazov. Besides, despite sufficient evidences existing in the case, the court acquitted him, thus encouraging the dangerous practice of degrading treatment. The Rustavi City Court also acquitted three other people convicted for this case, who were accused of physical insult of the victim”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), today the Tbilisi Court of Appeals made an important decision related to combatting violence against women. “The court ruled that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Office of the Prosecutor General were supposed to take respective measures to protect the victim of domestic violence who committed suicide. Prior to her death, the woman applied to relevant authorities for help 16 times and the state had to know that her life and health were in danger. State authorities have been charged to compensate the loss in favor of the mother of the deceased”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:gyla.ge