As it has come to light, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia (MIA) is maintaining a video archive where it keeps secretly recorded videos of personal lives in addition to other recordings. Even though officials have made statements urging the MIA to destroy the archive, the material remains within the Ministry. In view of high public interest and controversy, we, the below signatories deem it important to express legally correct position about the issue.
2013-07-05 08:15 See moreGYLA has released a statement about draft constitutional amendments proposed by 82 MPs, expressing its opinion about the legal draft. First and foremost, we a reconvened that the MPs have elaborated the draft without the involvement of public stakeholders. Elaboration of constitutional amendments in a closed format discourages public involvement which we deem necessary in the process of amending the supreme law of the country. GYLA welcomes part of the proposed amendments that strips the Prime Minister off the power to adopt a law without parliamentary consent. According to the 2010 amendments set to come into force (provided they are not modified) following the 2013 presidential elections, the Prime Minister will have the right to establish a linkage between the government’s vote of confidence and the draft submitted to the parliament. Declaring no confidence in government is a complicated process. Failure of the parliament’s vote of no confidence will automatically result in adoption of the legal draft, even if it does not gain any support of the parliament at all.
2013-07-05 07:30 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Association started monitoring of pre-election period for the upcoming 2013 presidential elections on July 1, 2013, by means of its regional offices in the following seven regions of Georgia: Adjara, Guria, Imereti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Tbilisi.
2013-07-04 02:33 See moreOn July 1, 2013, the president of Georgia set the date for the upcoming presidential election. According to the President’s Administration first announced October 27 as the date of the presidential elections and later it changed the date to October 31 under the presidential decree.
2013-07-03 02:28 See moreI can think of a number of demonstrations over the past few years when the police arrested participants for blocking traffic and violating the public order. However, today, I would like to draw your attention to the latest incident of May 1, 2013 in which the question how the state should keep balance between freedom to peaceful assembly and freedom of movement became topical again.
2013-07-02 05:11 See moreNGOs have released a joint statement about yesterday’s developments in the village of Samtatskaro, urging the authorities to take meaningful actions for ensuring safety of local Musllim population and for conflict resolution.
2013-06-29 06:53 See moreAccording to the June 27 media reports, the Ministry of Finances’ (MOF) investigating service restricted the freedom of and took by force officials of Tbilisi City Hall and Sakrebulo to the MOF’s office for questioning. According to the municipal officials, while driving they were forced to pull over by men dressed in civilian clothes, telling them that they were under arrest. The municipal officials were handcuffed, their cell phones taken away and driven to the police department.
2013-06-28 06:33 See moreThe International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is celebrated on June 26. Every year GYLA celebrates the day with various different activities. This year Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association facilitated a lecture/discussions at Ivane Javakhishvili State University in Tbilisi addressing the following issues:
2013-06-26 11:08 See moreIn view of the high public interest, we deem it important to explain the reasons why we refused to watch the footage of torture and inhumane treatment shown yesterday at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. First and foremost, we would like to note that recent years have been marked with systematic violations of human rights by subjecting individuals to the most cruel and degrading violence. By providing access to videos of torture and inhumane treatment at the penitentiary system and the secretly recorded footage of personal lives, public became even more conscious of the cruelty and the scale of violence perpetrated for years by the state against individuals, without any legal repercussions. In a number of cases torture and inhumane treatment was committed to force individuals into confessing gravest crimes and to hold them liable.
2013-06-21 03:51 See moreOn June 18 mass media released draft conclusion of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament in terms of the May 17 developments. Although disseminated document is a draft and the Committee has not voted for the final version we consider decisive to highlight that certain legal assessments of the draft lack reasoning and are incompatible with the standards enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights. It should be noted that similar assessments were dominant in public discussions of the May 17 event. In view of this, for shifting these debates in correct legislative aspect, it is necessary to submit reasoned answers. Furthermore, we think that our opinions will have positive effect on the final content of the Parliament’s conclusion.
2013-06-19 05:08 See more