Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association responds to legislative changes adopted by the Parliament. “Election of Prosecutor General by a qualified majority is part of the agreement, which was signed between the Government and the opposition on April 19 through the mediation of Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and unilaterally announced annulled by the ruling party just a while ago”, - is noted in the statement released by GYLA, - “GYLA supported the replacement of the simple majority, required for the election of Prosecutor General, with a qualified majority. This would greatly increase the chance to fill the position with a person who would enjoy broad political consensus as well as high public confidence. Besides, there would emerge a new procedure, oriented on sharing power and responsibility, in the constitution of the country. Unfortunately, the ruling team has rejected this change, which is dictated by the desire to retain political control over the justice system”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia provides updated information on election irregularities and responses. By the TI the political party “For Georgia” has repeatedly informed the observer organizations and the Public Defender of Georgia about the alleged facts of various pressures on the party's supporters. Transparency International Georgia is studying these cases. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender says the work of the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Monitoring Department of the Special Penitentiary Service continues with significant shortcomings.  ‘The analysis of the cases showed that the Monitoring Department of the Special Penitentiary Service and the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not conducted an in-depth examination of alleged human rights violations, which prevented the investigation and detection of violations indicated by the applicants. The general inspectorates of the investigative agencies do not fully study citizens' complaints, do not obtain neutral evidence to identify alleged infringements, and in most cases are limited to questioning alleged infringers who clearly deny the violation of law’, - mentioned the Public Defender.  Read more…   Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia assessed the activities carried out by the City Council of Akhaltsikhe municipality in 2020. The report is based on the information requested and received from the City Council as well as the information published on the official website of the City Council, and on observations of the organization. Transparency International Georgia evaluated Akhaltsikhe City Council’s performance in 2020 as well. The study covered the period from November 2017 to 2019. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. TI has published an article – ‘https://transparency.ge/en/blog/anti-corruption-environment-georgia-and-recommendations-european-union’.  This article by Alexan¬der Kevkhishvili was published on June 21 as part of a project titled Eastern Partnership Plus implemented by the German think tank Zentrum Liberale Moderne (LibMod).  ‘The current situation vis-à-vis corruption in Georgia is characterized by impressively low levels of petty corruption combined with near-total impunity for high-level corruption, - we read in the article.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center calls on the Parliament of Georgia to resume discussions on systemic reform of the Prosecutor’s Office and the judiciary in general and to take into account assessments and recommendations of civil society organizations and international partners in this process. “Removal of issues related to election of Prosecutor General from the draft constitutional law once again indicates that the ruling power does not intend to reduce its political influence over law enforcement and judicial systems. This decision lowers the prospect of democratization and political neutrality of the Prosecutor’s Office”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia is concerned about the intention of the Georgian Dream to adopt constitutional amendments without modifying the rule for electing Prosecutor General. “By rejecting progressive changes and keeping existing modalities in force, Georgian Dream attempts to retain full control over the justice system”, - they consider at the organization, - “One of the main challenges for Georgian democracy and political stability remains depoliticization of both the prosecutor’s office and the judiciary institutes, as well as the liberation of these agencies from partisan influence. Decision-making by a qualified majority in the Parliament will facilitate the election of Prosecutor General free from political influences, having public confidence and a high professional reputation. The election of Prosecutor General by a qualified majority is also recommended by the Venice Commission. Respectively, failure in the adoption of constitutional amendments will further hamper democratic processes in the country, which fact is going to be the responsibility of the ruling political force”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia assessed the activities carried out by the representative body of Kutaisi municipality - the City Council in 2020. The report is based on the information requested and received from the City Council and on observations of the organization. The research covers the period of 2020. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

EaP is now collecting information on civil society needs in the Eastern Partnership countries to better adapt to the opportunities we will be offering in the coming years... The results obtained will help the organization to better identify future offers. For this, CSOs and civil society activists are offered to complete a special questionnaire. ‘By completing our survey below, you will help us better understand what you need in your civil society organization or as civil society activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, or Ukraine. You will help us better tailor our activities and the opportunities we will be offering you in the coming three and a half years', - is mentioned in the information on the Eap’s webpage. You can fill in the survey in either English or Russian. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Young Georgians and Ossetians from across the conflict divide worked jointly to create over 100 posters, blogs, graphic comics, quizzes, videos, and animations reflecting life in their communities.   The artwork and written stories are presented at the web platform House of Peace, developed by the non-governmental ‘Coalition for IDPs’ Rights’ with support from the European Union in Georgia and UNDP Georgia.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. GCSD is honored to share Chatham House publication – “Myths and misconceptions in the debate on Russia”.  The paper encourages Western governments and institutions to reassess their assumptions about Russia in order to develop more effective responses to the increasing challenges the country presents. ‘Effective’ in this context means, in particular, deterring Russian aggression abroad and ultimately securing a less adversarial relationship with Russia without compromising principles of sovereignty and security and the values on which they are based. Read more…  Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. A large part of the population of Georgia believes that high-level corruption – cases of corruption involving high-ranking officials – is common in the country. At the same time, the population seldom encounters petty corruption in their daily life. Such are the results of a telephone-based public opinion survey that was commissioned by TI Georgia and conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) in the period from July 9 to July 18, 2021. The organization surveyed 1,228 people across the country as part of the poll. The average margin of error is 2.67%. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Public Defender Demands Criminal Prosecution of Two Persons for Organizing Group Violence and Calling for Violence on July 5. ‘Two months have passed since the violent events of July 5, but the Georgian Prosecutor's Office has not launched criminal prosecution against any individual for organizing group violence. The Public Defender examined the video footage released by the media and considers that the publicly available evidence reaches the standard of probable cause for launching criminal proceedings against two persons for organizing group violence as well as for publicly calling for violence’, is mentioned in the statement of the Public Defender. Read more…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition responds to the statement of Kakha Kaladze and proposes political parties sign a memorandum.  As Kaladze informs in his statement, the Tbilisi mayoral candidate, nominated by the ruling party, is going to participate only in TV debates planned by Public Broadcaster, besides, some of the regional TV stations have already received refusals of candidates of the ruling party to participate in political debates.  In order to fulfill the multifaceted commitment to suffrage, Media Advocacy Coalition proposes political parties and electoral subjects, participating in the local self-government elections, sign a memorandum, which incorporates the responsibility to carry out election processes in a peaceful, non-violent and non-discriminatory environment.  Read more…  Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia assessed the activities carried out by the City Council of Zugdidi municipality in 2020. The report is based on the information requested and received from the City Council as well as the information published on the official website of the City Council, and on observations of the organization. The research covers the period of 2020. Transparency International Georgia evaluated Zugdidi City Council’s performance in 2020 as well. The study covered the period from November 2017 to 2019. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. With the active participation of IDFI and financial support of USAID GGI, Tbilisi City Hall elaborated and approved the concept of an open data portal, based on which the portal will be launched. Along with the concept, a detailed technical description of the portal was prepared. The launch of an open data portal is one of the key commitments of the Tbilisi City Hall Open Government Partnership (OGP) action plan. Implementation of this commitment will increase Tbilisi City Hall’s transparency and accountability. Once the Open Data portal is set up, the datasets available on the portal will be available for all, including businesses, media, academia, and any interested individual. By making open data available, Tbilisi City Hall will promote the creation of innovative, citizen-centric services. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform (Georgian National Platform) is concerned about the inconsistent policy of the Government of Georgia. “We consider it unacceptable that the Government of Georgia takes steps, which are politically dangerous, tailored to interests of the Government, as well as harmful to the state, and, at the same time, contradict the Euro-Atlantic perspective of Georgia. Moreover, taking into account the fact that threats posed by the Russian Federation on the background of recent developments in the region are alarming. We closely monitor the significant negative impact of both hard and soft power of the Russian Federation on the society of Georgia and consider that the only solution is the Euro-Atlantic choice along with the path leading to it through reforms, which bring goodness to citizens of the country. We assume that the European Union should further facilitate strengthening the civil society sector, though in the circumstances when the Government of Georgia demonstrates certain inconsistency in conjunction with Euro-Atlantic integration”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: hrc.ge

Tbilisi. A civil platform “No-Phobia!” responds to the September 3, 2021 statement of Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, with extreme concern.  “As Irakli Garibashvili stated, “Pride March”, scheduled for July 5, 2021, was not a form of realization of the right of LGBTQ + community members to assembly and manifestation, rather it was a provocation planned by the National Movement, a well-organized insidious conspiracy applied against the statehood of Georgia. It should also be noted that the Prime Minister of Georgia appraises actions of violent groups negatively only in the context of aggression waged against journalists, whereas he does not consider it inconsistent with the liberal-democratic state that representatives of the LGBTQ + community could not enjoy their right to freedom of assembly and manifestation, while the state did not ensure their safety within the frameworks of a positive obligation imposed on it by the Constitution. Besides, in the run-up to the local elections and on the background of strong homophobic attitudes existing within certain layers of society, the statement of the Prime Minister contains elements of populism that are incompatible with Western values, which fact turns homophobic attitudes into a tool of political struggle”, - is noted in the statement released by the platform.  Read more…  Source:gdi.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies has published a blog by Vladimir Papava, Senior Research Fellow, Rondell Foundation – ‘Vaccination: ‘To Be, or not to Be’… ‘Even though different types of vaccines have been developed, making it easier for people to choose when available, the issue of low trust in these vaccines remains a major problem. And if a significant portion of the population has no confidence in the vaccines, then it will be impossible to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic through them. In other words, as it turns out, the existence of a vaccine in and of itself is not necessarily a panacea’, - writes the author. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia assessed the activities carried out by the City Council of Poti municipality (Hereinafter Poti City Council) in 2020.  The report is based on the information requested and received from the City Council as well as the information published on the official website of the City Council, and on observations of the organization. The research covers the period of 2020. Transparency International Georgia evaluated Poti City Council’s performance in 2020 as well. The study covered the period from November 2017 to 2019.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. City Hall and the Architecture Service unlawfully classify documentation of the central park to be built on the territory of the former Hippodrome. “The Tbilisi City Hall and the Architecture Service do not publicize documentation related to the construction of the park on the territory of the former Hippodrome, which fact further deepens doubts about the unlawfulness of the project and its incompatibility with public interests of the City. Information requested by us is public information in accordance with law and it is the responsibility of the state to provide access to it. Social Justice Center applies to the court to claim against the Tbilisi City Hall and the Architecture Service on the grounds of non-disclosure of public information”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

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