Today, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), and the Transparency International – Georgia held public discussion on Draft Joint Opinion of OSCE/ODIHR on the Draft Election Code of Georgia. Representatives of local and international organizations, media outlets and political parties participated in the meeting. The discussion was supported by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Georgia, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition to the Draft Joint Opinion of OSCE/ODIHR on the Draft Election Code of Georgia, the meeting also discussed legislative amendments to the text of the draft Election Code of Georgia prepared by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament. The proposed amendments were prepared in consideration of comments of OSCE/ODIHR and local NGOs.
2011-12-12 13:44 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Associaton (GYLA) will mark the celebration of the Human Rights Day traditionally by holding serios of human rights events. The series of events marking the Human Rights Day celebrations commenced with a rally held at RikeFurthermore, GYLA Chairperson Tamar Chugoshvili held a press conference, giving a brief overview of human rights problems in Georgia in 2011. The press conference highlighted the following problems in human rights practice in Georgia in 2011: • Right to a fair trial – the problem of violation of the right to a fair trial remained to be acute throughout last year. Cases that involved criminal and administrative violations were problematic. Use of restrictive measures are particularly noteworthy with regard to criminal cases, as frequently pre-trial detention was applied without any substantiation and in violation of legal requirements. Furthermore, administrative cases, and administrative imprisonment in particular, have also proved to be problematic. Generally, right to defense is not ensured, court’s decisions lack substantiation, frequently courts deliver their decisions on the basis of statements of police officers, without examining or upholding other important evidence;
2011-12-10 11:58 See moreGYLA marked celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day by holding a presentation and a roundtable on the topic of “the System of Disciplinary Proceedings in Civil Service (overview of legal standards and factual situation)”. The event aimed at familiarizing public with results of the research of legislative regulation and existing practice of disciplinary proceedings in civil service as one of the spheres vulnerable to corruption, also to discuss reccomendations developed by GYLA, listen and share participants’ comments. Anti-corruption work is one of GYLA’s strategic directions. In this regard, GYLA is already a member of the Anti-Corruption Council with the Ministry of Justice of Georgia; it also implements anti-corruption monitorings and presents prepared reports to broad public. The December 9 event was also attended by representatives of civil society and public defender, as well as experts specializing in the noted field.
2011-12-09 13:28 See moreDraft law on amendments to the Law of Georgia on Internally Displaced Persons nitiated by the Government of Georgia has been submitted to Parliament for consideration. In addition to other technical issues, the draft law also envisages changes that may have a negative consequences for the rights of individuals to whom the current Law applies. More specifically, the draft law changes notion of a displaced person by providing the following formulation: “An internally displaced person from the occupied territories of Georgia (hereinafter, and IDP) is a citizen of Georgia or a person permanently residing in Georgia who was forced to leave his place of permanent residency due to the threat to his life, health and freedom or life, health and freedom of his family members, as a result of occupation of the territory and aggression by a foreign state, mass violation of human rights or as a result of events determined by para. 11 of Article 2 of this Law”. Such definition of the notion of IDP narrows down the list of individuals to whom the existing Law applies to and limits it to persons displaced from the occupied territories, whereas a number of individuals from unoccupied territories, villages adjacent to the conflict zone (villages of Zardiantkari, Didi Khurvaleti, etc.) were forced to leave their places of permanent residence following the August 2008 war. In absence of strong security guarantees, they are unable to get back to their homes, which is also confirmed by letters of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
2011-12-09 12:30 See moreToday, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association released a statement over the fact of physical and psychological pressure exerted against convicted Kakha Baratashvili at the penitentiary department’s treatment facility for convicts and defendants. With the noted statement, GYLA called on the office of the prosecutor of Georgia to start investigation into the fact of ill-treatment of convicted K. Baratashvili, and expressed hope that his life and threat would not be endangered. Several hours ago, we learned that convicted K. Baratashvili who underwent surgery on November 30 at the same treatment facility, was physically harassed last night by employees of the facility. Furthermore, threats were made against his family members. GYLA once more condemns physical harassment of the prisoner at the penitentiary department, particularly in consideration of the fact that the violence occurred at a medical facility for convicts and prisoners.
2011-12-06 14:40 See moreOn November 29, 2011, attorney of convicted Kakha Baratashvili, Kakha Mumladze applied to Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. According to the attorney, the convict was subjected to threats and physical assault in the penitentiary facility. We found out that due to deterioration of health, convicted Kakha Baratashvili was transferred to the treatment facility for convicts and prisoners N18. He clarifies that due to unbearable pain he requested doctor’s appointment a number of times for consultation but administration of the penitentiary facility responded with physical assault. Furthermore, the convict was ordered to take off his clothes, and they poured cold water on his naked body. Threats of sexual violence were also made. According to Kakha Baratashvili, employees of the treatment facility forced him to write an application stating that he had inflicted the injuries himself when he was in unbearable pain. Representatives of the administration also threatened him that if he publicized the noted fact, an illegal item could have been found on him, which would have served as grounds for extending his term of imprisonment.
2011-12-06 12:08 See moreToday, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association released a statement over the fact of physical and psychological pressure exerted against convicted Kakha Baratashvili at the penitentiary department’s treatment facility for convicts and defendants. With the noted statement, GYLA called on the office of the prosecutor of Georgia to start investigation into the fact of ill-treatment of convicted K. Baratashvili, and expressed hope that his life and threat would not be endangered.
2011-12-06 07:55 See moreThe Parliament of Georgia is considering draft of very important amendments to the Civil Procedure Code of Georgia. The draft of amendments to the Civil Procedure Code change the procedures for summoning claimant legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and their representatives to court; an employer of the office of court will be entitled to refuse registration of a lawsuit (application) even when corresponding document is delivered by mail; a claimant will be obligated to provide the respondent with copies of the lawsuit and enclosed documents; the court of first instance will no longer deliver a ruling about deficiencies in the lawsuit (application) but rather, will directly refuse to admit it, etc. More specifically, according to the draft law: • The first instance court will no longer deliver a ruling about deficiencies in the lawsuit but rather, will directly refuse to admit it. With the only exception, all circumstances that served as grounds for delivering a ruling on deficiencies in a lawsuit will now serve as grounds for deeming the lawsuit as inadmissible. • An employee of the office of court will have the right to refuse registration of a lawsuit (application) even if it is delivered by mail, which may deprive a claimant from the right to apply to court due to expiration of time limit.
2011-12-06 07:36 See moreThe International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated on December 3. On this occasion, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association would like to focus on the human rights situation of persons with disabilities. Bearing in mind the fundamental rights of human dignity and honor guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia and international human rights documents, as well as the essence of the fact that being a human has a value in itself, GYLA stresses that persons with disabilities should be equally benefit from basic human rights and legal guarantees, without any discrimination. GYLA would like to also highlight the fact that persons with disabilities in Georgia remain to be one of the most socially vulnerable part of the population. Problems that they face in terms of realization of their rights are multidimensional and translate into everyday social barriers as well as multiple barriers engendered by inadequate efforts of the government, which ultimately prevents persons with disabilities from leading a dignified way of life and hinders their social integration.
2011-12-05 11:36 See moreThe Government of Georgia plans to reform the field of competition. Therefore, Parliament of Georgia is currently considering the new draft law. Yesterday, on November 29, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association submitted to parliament its legal opinion on the draft law . Earlier, on November 1, GYLA’s opinions were provided to the Government of Georgia in a written form. Comments of the Association focus on institutional independence of the State Procurement Agency and the procedures for considering appeals. At this stage of legal drafting, it is of vital importance to create sound guarantees for independence and objectivity of the agency responsible for enforcement of new procedures of competition. On the one hand, the noted institute should be free from any influence from the authorities, as it supervises state assistance; on the other hand, it should remain impartial towards entrepreneurial entities. According to the draft, Chairperson of the Agency is appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister. The noted provision promotes instability of the work of the chairperson. In consideration of the fact that the Agency examines lawfulness of assistance provided by the state, it is rather risky to delegate the noted power to the Prime Minister. Under the circumstances, all means of repression should be removed from the executive authority. We believe that the Chairperson should have more guarantees of immunity. To this end, the law should provide for the role of the parliament in appointment of the Chairperson and determine the term of his authority.
2011-12-02 10:05 See more