Tbilisi. Lawyers of ''Transparency International Georgia'' have won court disputes in favor of Grigol Pirtskhalaishvili and Magda Jimsheleishvili. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On October 5, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia and the Social Service Agency of Georgia with a recommendation to take measures for the execution of the court judgment on the determination of the living place of the child and the child’s right to communicate with both parents. According to the Public Defender, in many cases, child’s best interests are insufficiently considered and child's right to communicate with both parents is restricted; in addition, cases of physical and psychological violence committed by family members against children are not properly detected. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Samtskhe-Javakheti. In order to protect the rights of Lola Z., a victim of violence, and her children, as witnesses of violence, the Akhaltsikhe District Court issued a restraining order against the offender on 24 October, 2017. Interests of victims in the court were represented by Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI). Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Adjara. The Organization ''Partnership for Human Rights'' (PHR) applied to the Constitutional Court in order to eliminate discrimination of judges related to obtaining a state compensation and its amount. Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The organization "Partnership for Human Rights” (PHR) releases information, according to which the court, in order to safeguard a juvenile, has issued a protective order that prohibits any communication of the abusive parent with the child. The juvenile, whose rights were defended by PHR, indicated in the statement that the abuser was the parent who had alcohol related problems. The parent prohibited the child from spending time with friends, as well as committed mental and physical violence. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association publishes a list of those admitted to a course of civil law of the Legal Education Support Fund. Read more… Source: www.legaleducation.ge

Tbilisi. ''Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary'' states that next stage of lifetime appointment of judges is carried out with faults. ''As a result of observation during interviews with judges it has been revealed that even the renewed composition of the Council is unable to carry out a process of appointment of judges impartially and, in most cases, it is just a formality'' – is noted in the statement released by the Coalition. Read more... Source:The website of the Coalition

Tbilisi. On October 18, the organization "Article 42 of the Constitution” conducted a presentation of a study – "Offence committed by negligence and adequacy of punishment”. "The study revealed that measures taken by the state to eliminate cases of offense committed by negligence are ineffective in terms of prevention of 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. Present report describes and assesses the legal regime in the field of crime prevention and police powers. Preventive police measures are one of the most important, widely spread and relatively new areas of police activity. ''The preventive police system implies a set of measures that lead to the prevention and repression of crimes or offenses and implies carrying out of actions of various intensity by the police. In present report the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) continues to analyze the complexity of crime prevention, and seeks to describe and evaluate in detail the grounds and purpose of police preventive measures, as well as the applicable standards and experience of other countries in given area, overview the guarantees of protection of citizens during interaction with police, and forms of supervision and control over preventive activities of the police. The document also assesses the general legislative and institutional framework in which the police operates and highlights the risks associated with risky expansion of police control through the implementation of preventive police measures'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia urges the state agencies not to hinder their representatives in performing their powers granted by the constitution and law of Georgia. "On October 10, 2017, Tbilisi main police department did not provide information requested by representatives of the Public Defender of Georgia about the whereabouts of participants of the protest held in front of Tbilisi City Council building, due to which, meeting with the detainees was artificially delayed for more than 3 hours”, - The Public Defender considers, - "Unfortunately, this is not the first case when the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia fail to cooperate quickly and effectively with representatives of the Public Defender of Georgia and impede the realization of their authority to immediately meet with the detained persons without reasonable, legitimate reasons”. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. The Open Society Georgia Foundation responds to developments that take place in the Tbilisi City Assembly and considers that the interested society has been restricted to attend the sitting unlawfully. The organization considers arbitrary closure of the Assembly sitting unacceptable and expresses its readiness to support civil society in the process of contesting the unlawful decision in court. Read more... Source:The website of the organization

Kvemo Kartli. On October 10, TDI representatives met with the members of local religious communities, non-governmental organizations and media in Marneuli. ''The meeting was carried out within the project ''Combating Discrimination on Religious, Ethnic and Racial Grounds'', which is being implemented in the framework of East-West Management Institute (EWMI) Program ''Promoting the Rule of Law in Georgia'' (PROLoG) and funded by USAID. The aim of the meetings is to introduce the project to the representatives of local religious and ethnic groups, to offer free legal aid program, to identify and analyze problems and needs of religious and ethnic communities in Kvemo Kartli region'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.tdi.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender echoes limitation of publicity at Tbilisi City Council session. "Tbilisi City Council is discussing the issue of alienation of the municipality property for a symbolic price… As there is a high public interest towards this issue, the Public Defender has decided to study the issue on his own initiative”, - mentions the Public Defender, - "The Public Defender considers that it is inadmissible to close a session in advance by referring to possible future threat. If any attendee violates the requirements of the law, naturally, measures envisaged by the law should be taken personally against him/her. However, generally, it is unjustifiable to restrict the publicity of the City Council session by referring to some hypothetical threat”. In full Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. "The Process of transferring land plots in Tbilisi to the companies with connections to former Prime Minister Ivanishvili violates the principle of integrity in governance”, - is considered in the statement of the Transparency International Georgia. "We believe that the decision to award the publicly owned land plots the companies connected to Mr. Ivanishvili on preferential terms lacks substantiation, is not based on clear public interest and raises question regarding the motivation behind the actions of the city authorities, particularly since the ruling party’s founder is the beneficiary of the decision”, - mentions TI. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes material regarding a new system of distribution of cases in common courts. It is considered in the organization that elaboration of a new system of distribution of cases in common courts is one of the most important reforms of last years, however, at the legislative level there are a number of remaining open issues that have been handed over to the High Council of Justice by the Parliament for their arrangement. Read more… Source:emc.org.ge

Shida Kartli. With the assistance of the Public Defender's Office, representatives of the International Criminal Court met with the conflict-affected persons, IDPs and people living along the dividing line in the city of Gori. Up to 50 community activists from the IDPs’ settlements and villages located along the dividing line attended the meeting. The aim of the Court delegation was to get information about the needs of the conflict-affected persons and develop special programs for them. Members of the delegation provided information to the conflict-affected persons about the terms of the investigation, the individual responsibility for the crimes committed and the necessity of cooperation with them. In full  Source: The organization’s website

  Tbilisi. The Tbilisi City Court has fully considered a position of a lawyer of the Partnership for Human Rights (PHR). The opinion was related to defining spheres and boundaries of recognition of a person with a psychosocial need as a beneficiary and provision of respective support. Read more… Source: phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) responds to a new bill on Labor Remuneration in public institutions and states that changes fail to meet existing challenges. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. With the help of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will compensate moral damage to a citizen. ''The Tbilisi office of GYLA was defending interests of a citizen, who got multiple heavy injuries of a body as a result of explosion of a hand grenade, found in the street in 2010'' – is stated on the website of the organization. Read more... Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender published a statement on information about detention of civil activist Tamar Mearakishvili. "According to media reports spread on August 16, 2017, local resident and civil activist Tamar Mearakishvili was detained in the occupied district of Akhalgori. Tamar Mearakishvili had always been actively expressing her civic positions and critical opinions aimed at protecting the rights of the Akhalgori population. Due to this, she had been under pressure from the de facto authorities in recent years, which ended up by her abduction in July of this year. The Public Defender assesses the detention of Tamar Mearakishvili as illegal deprivation of liberty, pressure on the civil activist and restriction on freedom of expression. This detention should also be assessed as a compulsion to leave Akhalgori permanently. It's worrying that pressure on civil activists and non-governmental organizations has acquired a regular character in the so-called South Ossetian region. The Public Defender calls on the de facto authorities to immediately release Tamar Mearakishvili. He also calls on the Government of Georgia to take all measures for the protection of the safety of Tamar Mearakishvili and her release”, - said the Public Defender. In full  Source: The website of the organization

Adjara. On July 24 through August 4, the Constitutional Court of Georgia conducted its 10th Annual Summer School on Constitutional Law and Human Rights. The Summer School was held on the Court’s premises in Batumi. The Summer School is designed to enhance the knowledge of future legal professionals in constitutional and human rights laws and is considered one of the most effective ways to promote human rights in Georgia today. Twenty-eight students had the opportunity to learn from experts, interact with peers, and build relationships. Before the start of the Summer School in Batumi, students met with the President of Georgia and the Ombudsman in Tbilisi to learn about the role that both institutions play in the development of democracy and rule of law in Georgia. Students also visited the USAID office in Georgia, where Deputy Mission Director Thomas Morris made a short presentation for students on USAID’s work in Georgia and the role it plays in the development of democracy and rule of law in the country. EWMI/PROLoG has supported the Constitutional Court Summer School for years. In full  Source: The website of the organization

Samtskhe-Jjavakheti. On August EWMI/PROLoG hosted a three-day workshop in Borjomi between the State-funded Legal Aid Service (LAS) and the judiciary. The purpose was to discuss the upcoming expansion of the LAS mandate into civil and administrative law, to present the findings of a PROLoG-organized study by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) to identify challenges related to the upcoming expansion, and to find solutions to facilitate the expansion in close cooperation with the judiciary. The participants agreed on concrete steps that will be taken for the establishment of the appraisal system. The participants agreed that lawyers from LAS bureaus will act as appraisers, those lawyers will also have their own cases, and that case bank forms will be prepared an alternative to having individual lawyers draw up protocols. The LAS Board also finalized its draft amendments to the Law on Legal Aid Service, which will be presented to the Parliament during the Fall session. In full  Source: The organization’s webpage