Tbilisi. The Public Defender filed a constitutional lawsuit with the Constitutional Court of Georgia and requested that the rule of selection of Supreme Court judicial candidates[1] by the High Council of Justice be declared unconstitutional. The Public Defender considers that the procedure for selecting Supreme Court judicial candidates violates the constitutionally guaranteed rights of a Georgian citizen to hold public office (Constitution, 25-1), to have access to a fair trial (Constitution, 31-1, first sentence) and the principle of an independent and impartial trial (Constitution, 31-1). The constitutional lawsuit is based on the findings of the Venice Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as well as the factual circumstances identified as a result of monitoring the selection process (by the Public Defender of Georgia, OSCE/ODIHR). Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 12, 2019 the bill known as the fourth wave of judicial reforms was submitted to the Parliament. “The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary considers that, among the changes, the specification of grounds for disciplinary responsibility of judges and separation of the selection of listeners of the High School of Justice (HSoJ) from the functions of the High Council of Justice (HCOJ) is to be commended. At the same time, the bill introduces several innovations that the Coalition is critical of”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) has filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court. EMC considers unconstitutional those legal norms, which determine boundaries of the right to strike, on the one hand, as well as grounds and procedures for its restriction, on the other hand. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take proactive preventive measures with regard to the intention of the Georgian March to block the entrances to the Tbilisi and Batumi cinemas during the premiere of a movie - And We Dance. ‘The Public Defender explains that the right to assembly protects only the right to peaceful assembly and not the acts aimed at restricting the rights and freedoms of others. For this purpose, the Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations imposes certain obligations on the organizers and participants of such actions; inter alia, it prohibits the blockage of the entrances to the premises during assemblies and demonstrations’, - Is mentioned in the statement. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations demand to grant a legal status to those affected as a result of June 20-21 developments and release a special statement. “We call on the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia: to grant immediately a status of victim to all those people, who have been injured as a result of actions taken by law enforcers during June 20-21 developments; conduct an effective and impartial investigation in the current case in a timely manner; taking into account high public interest, periodically inform public about the progress of the investigation in the current case”. Read more… Source: article42.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia has found sexual harassment committed by the head of a private company. According to the case materials, the applicant was working as an intern in the company.  The applicant alleges she was subjected to verbal and physical actions of undesirable sexual nature his her supervisor, causing a degrading work environment, as a result of which, the applicant was forced to quit.  The applicant's interests were represented at the Public Defender's Office by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 19, Giorgi Tabagari, Tamaz Sozashvili and Mariam Kvaratskhelia, organizers of “Tbilisi Pride”, received bullying messages, in which they were threatened to be killed due to their activities. “Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) considers that in the circumstances when the indicator of committing violent crime against LGBTQ+ on discriminatory grounds in Georgia is alarmingly high, ineffective response of the government to such cases creates a sense of impunity for hate-motivated crimes and encourages people or groups acting against human rights”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Civil Development Agency (CiDA) is the organizer of an ongoing working meeting on “Involvement of local self-governments and civil society organizations in the process of juvenile crime prevention”. “The purpose of the meeting is to talk about development and implementation of services at the local level that are tailored to the needs of juveniles having been in conflict with law and at risk of committing crime”, - is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes a blog post: Selection of Supreme Court Judge Candidates: What people in Georgia know and think about the process. “What does the public in Georgia know about the process and what is their attitude towards the selection of Supreme Court candidates and judicial institutions? A phone survey conducted on September 5-11, 2019 suggests that people in Georgia are divided in their trust towards judicial institutions, are not knowledgeable about the process, have little trust in it, and largely have not heard of the selected candidates. Generally, thepublic is divided in whether they trust the High Council of Justice, Supreme Court, and the court system in general. About half of the public trusts and distrusts each of these institutions”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), on October 18, the conference of prosecutors of Georgia will elect six new prosecutor members to the Prosecutorial Council.  “Unfortunately, the Parliament did not take into consideration specific proposals in regard to determination of composition of the Prosecutorial Council and expansion of its activities. Within the frameworks of current regulations, it is difficult for the Prosecutorial Council to be an active body, as well as to ensure independence of the institution and its effective operation”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) submitted its opinion of a “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) to the Tbilisi Court of Appeals in regard to the case of murder of Vitali Safarov, a human rights activist, and urged to identify the motive for refusal of mercy. “In our opinion, identification of the motive for crime is essential for both prevention of hate motivated crimes and creation of a safe and equal political and social environment for minority groups”, - is noted in the statement of EMC. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender publishes an assessment of 10 years of torture prevention. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

USAID/PROLoG presents one pager about the new Law on Mediation. Leaflet... Source: The page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Training of Trainers program studying the work of private enforcement officers has started with the assistance of GIZ Legal Program within the framework of EU funded project “Development of Commercial Law and Practice”.  "Totally 14 state and private enforcement officers participate in the training. “The goal of the training is to train local trainers on the private practice of enforcement. These local trainers will train all state enforcement officers on the necessary issues of private practice during this and next year period. These trainings will prepare them for the reform planed in the enforcement law“, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On behalf of 16 people, GYLA applied to the Tbilisi City Court and demanded to abolish the prosecutor resolution, based on which respective status was not granted to people affected on June 20-21. GYLA demands the court to annul the resolution passed by the Prosecutor's Office and take a decision in regard to granting the status of victim to 16 people affected on June 20-21. The court has to consider the complaint within 15 days. Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia found harassment on the ground of different opinion in the workplace against the Ltd Black Sea Group Company and its Deputy Director.  According to the case file, the Deputy Director used forms of unethical communication with applicants subordinated to him/her, including in the presence of third parties. In particular, he/she used offensive expressions and created a hostile and degrading work environment as a person with power. In addition, despite the applicants' request, the Director of the company did not respond to the above facts.  Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia filed an amicus curiae brief with the Tbilisi Court of Appeal in connection with the criminal case of the murder of Vitali Saparov.  The Public Defender, as a mechanism to combat discrimination, made such a decision as the case included alleged hate motive. In the amicus curiae brief, the Public Defender discussed the indicators of hate motive based on standards established by international institutions, as well as the importance of identification of such motive.  Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. Human Rights Center requests the prosecutor’s office to grant victim status to the 38 journalists who covered the protest demonstration in Rustaveli Avenue on June 20.  ‘Human Rights Center calls on the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia: to conduct investigation over the criminal cases under the Article 154 of the CCG, which refers to the interference in the professional activities of journalists; to conduct comprehensive and impartial investigation and impose criminal liability over the perpetrators; to grant victim status to the citizens who received the injuries as a result of the dispersal of June 20, 2019 protest demonstration in accordance to the Article 56 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia’, - Is mentioned in the statement of the organization.  Read more…  Source: http://www.humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender of Georgia publishes special report on the process of selection of supreme court judges.  “Monitoring showed that the selection of Supreme Court judges in a fair manner and in accordance with high standards was substantially affected by many shortcomings. The process ongoing in the High Council of Justice failed to convince an objective observer that the most competent and conscientious candidates were submitted to the Parliament of Georgia”, is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) releases a statement in regard to substantive consideration of the Moris Machalikashvili case that begins today in the Tbilisi City Court.  “EMC anticipates that the defense will have an opportunity to present relevant arguments during the review of the case in the court and that the court will manage to make correct legal evaluations”.  Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the reports about alleged sexual and physical abuse committed by a member of Tbilisi City Assembly against his employee.  ‘Depending on the gravity and sensitivity of the case, the Public Defender calls on the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia to conduct an effective investigation, including by carrying out all necessary investigative or other procedural actions. In addition, it is important to eliminate any doubts about political interests or biased investigation, and the investigating authority to actively cooperate with the alleged victim and her representative’, - Is mentioned in a Public Defender’s statement.  Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe has published its decision on the supervision on the case of Identoba and others v Georgia at 1355th CM meeting, 23-25 September 2019 (DH).  By the EMC, in addition, the Court held that the authorities had breached their obligation to ensure that the march could take place peacefully by failing sufficiently to contain homophobic and violent counter-demonstrators (violation of Article 11 taken in conjunction with Article 14).  Read more… Source: https://emc.org.ge