Tbilisi. The High Council of Justice made a decision at today’s session to take into account the Public Defender’s recommendation of June 27.  Accordingly, copies of applications and documents submitted by 137 candidates participating in the selection process of Supreme Court judges will be available for monitoring organizations and other stakeholders.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. EMC responds to the rejection of allegations against Tamar Mearakishvili by Akhalgori regional court, which is under control of Tskhinvali de facto government.  “Regardless of the physical and economic isolation for 2 years, repression, restriction of freedom of movement and violation of other fundamental rights, Tamar managed for the second time to prove that the allegations were groundless. Obviously, there still exists an opportunity for the de facto prosecutor’s office to appeal the judgment in higher instances. It is yet unknown whether they will use this opportunity or not”, - mentions EMC, - “It is vital that Tskhinvali de facto authorities cease the practice of repressions and to fully restore her rights. Amongst, it's essential that Tamar gets back her Identity documents and her freedom of movement is restored”.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. “Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center” (EMC) publishes an analytical document – “For criticism of an adversarial criminal trial: Barriers while determining the truth”. “Two basic ways of resolving legal disputes are adversarial and inquisitorial trials. According to the general definition, the fundamental difference between them is who leads and controls a process. In the inquisitorial system, the court is directly involved in the case settlement issue, in particular, judges begin judicial procedures, collect evidences and determine how legal and factual circumstances, existing in the case, should be opened. Besides, they appoint witnesses and experts, question them and define the value of testimonies. In contrary, in the adversarial system, the course of proceedings is entirely entrusted to parties (their lawyers who interrogate witnesses), while a judge acts as a neutral “arbitrator”: S/he does not carry out an independent research, rather s/he evaluates evidences, presented to the court by parties, and settles the case taking into consideration existing facts and arguments”, - is stated in the document. Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association will prepare a report in regard to developments of June 20-21. “On June 20-21, society once again witnessed dissolution of a large-scale protest rally using disproportionate police force.  Dispersal of the protest entailed an administrative arrest of 305 people, while a number of individuals were injured”, - is noted in the statement released by GYLA.  Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics addresses the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a public statement. “The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics came to know that while reporting on 2 rallies, taking place on July 8 on Rustaveli Avenue, journalists experienced aggression coming from part of the demonstrators that were trying to prevent them from performing their professional activities. In response to this fact, law enforcers advised reporters to leave the area instead of protecting them. Besides, journalists say that they have to explain to representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs why hindering their professional performance is crime”, - is noted in the statement, - “We address you with the request to inform each law enforcer that journalistic activities are protected by Georgian legislation, reporters attend a demonstration not as its supporters, but to work and inform public. Therefore, law enforcers are obliged to ensure their safety. Protect journalists from aggressive actions of various people and let them freely cover current development”. Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The “Open Society Georgia Foundation” announces about an alternative process of studying data related to candidates for judges of the Supreme Court of Georgia and calls on candidates to cooperate. “Taking into consideration establishment of an independent, impartial and transparent system of justice in Georgia, as well as the role and importance of the Supreme Court of Georgia within this system, there has been decided to carry out an alternative process of searching and managing information related to candidates for judges of the Supreme Court through the support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation. Within the framework of this process, there will be collected and reviewed publicly available information about 20 candidates, selected/nominated by the High Council of Justice, based on which there will be created a document (so called portfolio) on each candidate and submitted to the Parliament of Georgia”, - is noted in the statement released by the Foundation, - “Respectively, the Foundation calls on all candidates for judges of the Supreme Court to show high professional standard and provide any information that is necessary and required in order to evaluate conscientiousness and professionalism of a candidate”. Read more… Source:The website of the organization

Ajara. The Constitutional Court recognized unconstitutional a norm, which restricted temporary exposition of a protest banner on a private property with the consent of an owner. Information in this regard has been released by the “Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association”. “By its decision of July 4, 2019, the Constitutional Court has recognized unconstitutional the regulating content of a challenged norm, which deprives a property owner of the right to temporarily expose a banner on the front of his/her own house without the consent of the City Hall. The Constitutional Court has also considered unconstitutional punishment of a person, who temporarily exposes a protest banner on a temporary building with the consent of the owner of the building. The Constitutional Court has revealed a violation of freedom of expression in this case”, - is noted in the statement released by GYLA. Read more… Source: https://gyla.ge

Tbilisi. “Article 42 of the Constitution” reflects on the ongoing competition on the vacancies of judges of the Supreme Court of Georgia and believes that the secret deal among the members of the Council of Justice on the candidates of the members of the Supreme Court, including the gaps revealed during the competition, puts the legitimacy of the entire process under suspicion. Based on all the above mentioned, the “Article 42 of the Constitution” calls:  Parliaments of Georgia: - To initiate a review of the resolution on clan governance in court system, this was submitted to the Parliament on June 4, 2019. - In the shortest possible time, consider the issue of termination of the authority of the member of the High Council of Justice Zaza Kharebava. - To ensure the participation of the Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary representatives in the working group of the Legal Issues Committee. The High Council of Justice of Georgia: - To consider and decide on the elimination issue of the member of the High Council of Justice- Tamar Oniani from the course of the competition. Read more…  Source: article42.ge

Tbilisi. On 2 July 2019, the Public Defender's Office started to study the criminal case (#074220619801) of alleged abuse of power by the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 20-21 June 2019 (investigation of the June 20-21 developments). “The Public Defender's Office will evaluate the investigation process by taking into account the international standards of effective investigation. Independence, timeliness, accuracy and competence of investigation, as well as involvement of victims in the process, will be the evaluation criteria. The Public Defender's Office will particularly focus on whether: all necessary investigative/procedural actions were conducted; investigative/procedural actions were conducted in a timely manner; investigation is not unreasonably delayed; investigative actions were conducted fully and with due diligence”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender Responds to Ongoing Process of Selection of Supreme Court Judges and make a statement.  "As the public is aware, the Public Defender of Georgia, together with international and local NGOs, independently observes the process of selection of Supreme Court judges”, - mentions the Public Defender, - “The first secret ballot in the High Council of Justice and observation of its results identified certain problems and shortcomings, which threaten the conduct of the process in accordance with high standards. The Public Defender would also like to respond to the refusal of the High Council of Justice to provide information about judicial candidates to Transparency International – Georgia. The Public Defender believes that the above-mentioned is a serious problem and damages the entire process”.  Read more Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. On June 27, the European Court of Human Rights made a decision on the case of GYLA proceedings: Nikoloz Goguadze versus Georgia.  “The court determined a violation of the article 3 of the European Convention (prohibition of torture) as the complainant became victims of ill-treatment from representatives of law enforcement bodies and at the same time, the state failed to provide an effective and timely investigation of this fact. According to this decision, the European Court found a violation of substantial part of the article 3 of the European Convention and explained that the objective evidence in the case confirmed that on May 26-27, 2011, the complainant had suffered a number of injuries in the face and body when he was under the control of the government which he had not got before being detained. At the same time, the state was unable to present a convincing argument about what caused these injuries. In contrast, the state presented a resolution of the prosecutor on the modification of the qualification by which the investigating authorities confirm, that there was sufficient evidence in the case about the fact of ill-treatment of complainant”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On June 21, the Tbilisi City Court imposed a fine of GEL 1000 on a number of people detained in regard to developments of June 20-21, despite absence of respective evidences. “While taking its decision, the court referred only on explanations of policemen and protocols of offence and detention compiled by them. Therefore, GYLA will submit complaints to the Court of Appeals on behalf of 12 persons who have been ordered to pay the fine”, - 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. The Tbilisi City Court declared those accused of group, premeditated murder of Vitali Safarov guilty. “Avtandil Kandelakishvili and Giorgi Sokhadze were sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment each. The term of imprisonment began in September 2018. 25-year-old Vitali Safarov was assassinated on September 30, 2018, on Dumas Street in the center of Tbilisi”, - is stated on the website of the Human Rights Center in a social network. Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) and Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC Georgia) presented findings of the study on the role of judges in the criminal justice system. The study was implemented within the framework of “Facilitating Implementation of Reforms in the Judiciary (FAIR)”, a project funded by the European Union. “The study aimed to identify the issues in regard to the role of judges that legal professionals (judges and lawyers) find important for ensuring fair, impartial and human rights oriented criminal justice system”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Public defender is responding to the Prosecutor General's readiness to engage the Public Defender of Georgia with the supervisory power in the investigation of cases of alleged abuse of power by police during the June 20-21 protests.  „The Public Defender has been demanding access to the materials related to the abuse of power by law enforcement officers for a long time. According to her, it is necessary that amendments be made to the draft law submitted to the Parliament of Georgia so that the Public Defender is granted access to the cases of special category. In addition, the above should not be a one-time action or should not depend on the good will of the Prosecutor's Office in exceptional cases. Every citizen should have equal hopes and expectations of the Public Defender“, - The Public Defender mentions.  Read more Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics publishes an address of journalists to the government of Georgia and diplomatic corps. “We demand to reveal immediately and launch criminal prosecution against those law enforcers who directly targeted journalists that could be identified, though still suffered body injuries and were hindered from performing their professional activities”. Read more... Source: www.qartia.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Organizations release a statement on the 20 June Events. “We, the undersigned organizations, would like to express our grave concern over the events that took place on June 20. To our greatest regret, the public has once again witnessed the disproportionate use of force by the police against a large-scale civil protest, which resulted in the arrest of tens of individuals and instances of severe injuries”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The public defender calls on demonstrators: If you have information regarding alleged human rights violations, please contact the Public Defender's Office of Georgia via hotline: 1481. “Representatives of the Public Defender are actively studying each incident that took place during the rally. They are also working to establish the location of the detained and missing persons. In addition, they will observe trials and visit the injured at hospitals", is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary responds to the commencement of the selection of Supreme Court Justices and calls on two members of the High Council – Tamar Oniani and Zaza Kharebava, of Justice (the Council) to recuse themselves from the next stages of the review.  “The selection of Supreme Court Justices consists of several stages where each of the Council members’ votes is important. Participation of certain members of the Council in this process while lawfulness of their engagement raises legitimate questions in the society makes it difficult to carry out an objective, fair, and impartial selection of Supreme Court Justices. This may undermine the public trust in this process”, - is mentioned in the Coalition’s statement.  Read more Source: https://www.gdi.ge