As it is known, the inter-fractional group was set up on election issues by the December 26, 2013 order of the Chairman of the Parliament. It aims preparation of amendments on self-governance elections to the Organic Law of Georgia “Election Code” and other laws and their submission to the Parliament. The inter-fractional group already held its first working meeting and NGOs, parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties had opportunity to participate.
2014-01-20 03:04 See moreOn December 30, 2013, the General Prosecutor of Georgia, Mr. Otar Partskhaladze resigned. The developments around the former General Prosecutor, including questions regarding his criminal record and legal education, clearly showed significance of selection process and underlined responsibility of relevant authorities involved in this process, in particular the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister.
2014-01-17 04:01 See moreThe undersigned organizations express concern over the inadequate response of the Georgian authorities to Ivane Merabishvili’s allegations made on December 16, 2013 NGOs have demanded number of times from the authorities to launch an investigation on the submitted information. Even though the Georgian Legislation explicitly obliges the Prosecutor’s Office and the relevant unit of the Ministry of Corrections to start a full-scale investigation into such facts, no comprehensive investigation has taken place so far. Regrettably, the actions of the authorities have been limited to an internal inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Corrections.
2014-01-17 02:33 See moreOn January 15, 2014 the Georgian National Communications’ Commission (GNCC) invalidated the license granted to Energy Group LLC by the August 26, 2013 decision and issued by the November 1, 2013 decision. The reason of invalidating the licence was Kakha Baindurashvili’s position who simultaneously is the director of the Energy Group LLC and owner of its 20% shares and the President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce, which according to the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting is incompatible with the broadcasting license. It should be noted that the Public Defender of Georgia, Legal Committee of the Georgian Parliament, the Journalists’ International Federation and the Media Advocacy Coalition are on the same position.
2014-01-16 02:32 See moreRecently budgeting process in Tbilisi has become the focus of public attention. Even though we are now in a new budgeting year, this year’s budget has not yet been approved which raises a number of questions. We would like to provide public with answers to these questions from applicable legislation:
2014-01-15 08:12 See moreGYLA provided legal aid to Lasha Chkhartishvili, who was arrested by the police on January 10, 2014 in the course of the rally in front of the City Hall on January 10, 2014. The protocol of violation was drafted as per Article 166 and 173 of the Administrative Code of Offences (petty hooliganism and disobedience to the lawful order of the law enforcement officer). As police employees have reported, by sitting on the stairs Chkhartishvili was blocking the entrance of the City Hall. Further, law enforcement officers alleged that they urged him to terminate such conduct, though he disobeyed.
2014-01-13 06:04 See moreOn December 9, 2014, Tbilisi City Court found four individuals guilty of crime envisaged by Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia (petty hooliganism) for the involvement in the incindent outside the Patriarchy. On January 8 participants of peaceful demonstration outside the Patriarchy protesting against opinions voiced in the Christmas epistle were subjected by counter-demonstrators to physical and verbal abuse, seizing and destroying their posters, curtailing realization of their Constitutional rights and liberties.
2014-01-10 06:25 See moreThe Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary would like to express its position concerning the delay in electing a member of the Constitutional Court. A ten-year term of office of the member of Constitutional Court, who was designated by the parliament, expired on 23 September 2013. Nevertheless, the Parliament has not yet elected a new member of the Constitutional Court.
2014-01-10 03:49 See moreWith assistance of Lawyers from GYLA’s Tbilisi office, five individuals received monetary compensation (each GEL 12000) for illegal restriction of liberty Five citizens of Russian Federation were arrested by Georgian authorities in different times. Criminal cases were initiated against them and plea agreements were made. Afterwards they should have been discharged from the court room immediately, though they were imprisoned by the state for 4 months without any legal grounds. Being released from the prison, they applied to the court with GYLA’s assistance and claimed compensation for the damage for illegal imprisonment. At the trial the Ministry of Interior and the applicants have negotiated on provision of lump sum compensation to the applicants. The negotiation was approved by the court and consequently, each applicant received GEL 12000 from the Ministry of Interior as a compensation.
2014-01-09 01:54 See moreYesterday, on December 26, at the plenary session where MPs reviewed postponement of enactment of the new rule of witness interrogation for two years, representatives of the Transparency International Georgia and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association were disallowed to express their silent protest through demonstration of banners in response to the government’s initiative. The banners contained the following wording: “Human Rights cannot wait for Two Years”, “Protect the Right of Defense” and “Say No to Postponement”.
2013-12-27 05:20 See more