Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes the clarification on the decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the case "Beqa Tsiqarishvili against the Parliament of Georgia”. ''The court has made a decision that it is inadmissible to use deprivation of liberty, for any period of time, as a measure of punishment for the purchase-keeping of marijuana for the personal usage purpose'' – is noted in the statement of the organization. In full... Source:emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender is responding to the recent developments of Georgia.  ''First of all, it is important all parties to realize their responsibilities in this tense situation and to refrain from making the kind of statements that may lead to more escalation, violence and aggression'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Non-Governmental Organizations respond to the developments, taking place in the country. ''There is a real danger of further escalation of the processes and acts of violence, which requires a special responsibility from all political and civil society groups'' – is noted in the joint statement. Non-Governmental Organizations call on the Georgian government, parliament, political parties to refrain from aggressive statements and actions. In full... Source:www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation has hosted public debates: "On the Margins of the European History and Politics: Why Should Georgia’s Voice Be Heard?" The Boell Foundation provides the video recording of the lecture… Source: ge.boell.org

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post regarding the reorganization, performed at the Association of Kutaisi Nursery Schools. "Reorganization sets question marks in terms of both the legal and structural points of view” – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source:www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Association of Young Financiers and Businessmen "AYFB” has called the briefing on the facts of cooperation between "National Movement” and Russian side. "Of the utmost significance are those facts of relations with Russia, which imply selling specific important facilities to Russia” – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full... Source:afba.ge

Tbilisi. The organization ''Young Barristers'' addresses to the President regarding the preparation of the next act of grace. ''During the preparation of the next act of grace, the attention to be paid to the case of Givi Dumbadze, imprisoned life sentenced Georgian military servant, who directly represents a victim of the previous government'' – is noted in the statement. In full… Source:www.barristers.ge

Tbilisi. In October 2015, the Georgian government started negotiations with Gazprom to create alternative ways to import gas, according to official sources. To see how dependent Georgia is on Russia economically, JumpStart researched and visualized various economic indicators. Visualization... Source: feradi.info

Tbilisi. Part of the non-governmental organizations releases a joint statement. The undersigning organizations condemn "targeted attacks on the offices of the opposition political party "United National Movement” on October 19, 2015 in five regions of Georgia”. The organizations call on the respective authorities of the government to take prompt and adequate response. In full… Source:gdi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information releases the publication: "Benefits of the membership of Georgia in the Energy Community”. The publication reflects the situation, existing in the Georgian energy sector, as well as the strategic importance of the membership of Georgia in the European Energy Community. In full… Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The board of the Charter of Journalistic Ethics of Georgia had a sitting, where the discussion point was selection of an Executive Director. By secret ballot, members of the Board elected journalist Nata Dzvelishvili as an Executive Director. In full… Source:gurianews.com

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a podcast of the Parliamentary news. It covers the issues, discussed in the Parliament last week: the review of the facts of exerting pressure on media sources, the amendments to be made into the law on "prosecutor’s office”, the bill on "the amendments to be made into the law of Georgia on "Public Service”. In full… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Non-Governmental Organizations release a joint statement regarding the process of promotion of judges, taking place at the High Council of Justice. ''Non-Governmental Organizations, undersigning the statement, consider the process negative, which is ongoing at the High Council of Justice and is related to the appointment of judges at the appeal court in a forced manner without competition'' – is noted in the statement. In full… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On 16 October 2015 the Public Defender held a round table on the issues of activation of the role of the Ossetian community, confidence building and conflict transformation.  ''There are a lot of problems; it's time for the Government to start working intensively on promotion of education, culture and identity of the Ossetian community. It is important to engage the community in political and public life'', - said Ucha Nanuashvili at the opening of the event. In full... Source: ombudsman.ge

Qvemo Qartli. On October 16, the presentation of the ''CIDA'' project on ''Cross Border Economic Development'' has taken place at the administration of the State Trustee of Qvemo Qartli. The purpose of the project is to improve living conditions of the population of Tavush and Qvemo Qartli regions of Armenia and Georgia. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On October 13, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, requested to authorize investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the August, 2008 war in Georgia.  ''The report on violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law during the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 released by Georgian NGOs in 2009 will be used as one of the sources for investigation... Five local NGOs such as Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, Human Rights Center, Union ''21st Century'', Article 42 of Constitution, Center for Protection of Constitutional Rights prepared the report with the help of Open Society Georgia Foundation'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: www.osgf.ge

Tbilisi. According to the statement of ''Young Barristers'', the Constitutional Court intends to abolish the results of intermediate parliamentary elections, held on 31 October in Martvili and Sagarejo. ''Constitutional Court of Georgia will announce its next noisy decision in the coming days, which may strain political life in the country more'' – is noted in the statement of the organization. In full… Source:www.barristers.ge

Tbilisi. CIDA actively participates in the development of the migration strategy for Georgia for 2016-2020 years. CIDA appreciates the fact that the development of migration strategy has been considered as a country priority.

Tbilisi. Open Government Partnership has designed and created the OGP Explorer software service that enables the OGP community of civil society, government, academia representatives and journalists to access the wealth of data the OGP has collected.  ''The service is rich in its data visualization options. The data can be seen in Graph and Table view that makes it easier to evaluate country performance on their OGP commitments, see which commitment is new/old, select a country and then, the sorting method'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes an article "Pension reform in Georgia” within the frames of the project "Georgia 2020”. The article contains prehistory, overview and analysis of the pension reform. "Considering global context of the problem, the necessity of passing the pension reform in Georgia as well is obvious, particularly on the background of weak economy and social hardship in the country” – is stated in the article. In full… Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) endorsed the OGP Joint Declaration on Open Government for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ''The goals introduced in the document, and the associated targets elaborated for the further implementation of the goals, are in full accordance with the aims of OGP. Moreover, OGP might grow as an effective tool for the implementation of the UN sustainable development goals'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post on the program of Batumi City Hall "Cheap House – standard dwelling for fellow townspeople”. "Despite the fact that by the end of the third quarter of 2015 the tender has been announced, the City Hall is still unable to define the criteria for selection of future beneficiaries, which indicates that the implementation of the program proceeds with faults” – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source:www.transparency.ge