The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Transparency International – Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Open Society – Georgia Foundation condemn the acts of violence during protest rally outside the National Library.
2013-02-09 00:41 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) responds to the controversy about the president’s annual address in the parliament. During yesterday’s sitting of the bureau of the parliament the Speaker of the Parliament explained the following: “The annual report of the President, scheduled in the Parliament for tomorrow, was postponed. The President will have opportunity to exercise his right under the Constitution; however, it is the position of the majority to let it happen after the appropriate decision will be made concerning the Constitutional changes or the president and his team will clearly and expressly articulate their position about giving back to the parliament the right that it is entitled to.”
2013-02-08 07:27 See moreSince 2012 GYLA has been implementing a coalition project Identification of Cases of Elite Corruption and Government Pressure on Business in Georgia. On February 7, 2012, GYLA held a presentation of the following two researches in frames of the project – Tbilisi City Hall Project Kiosks Throughout the City and the Overview of Activities of Non-Profit (Non-Commercial) Legal Persons Founded by Local Self-Governments.
2013-02-08 02:11 See moreGYLA continues publishing information about spending of funds from the reserve funds envisaged by the stage budget of Georgia. This time, we would like to provide public with information about spending from the Reserve Fund of the Government of Georgia following the 2012 parliamentary elections.
2013-02-06 07:57 See moreToday, at the opening of the spring session of the Parliament of Georgia, we would like to remind to the legislative authorities and other stakeholders about procedural gaps that emerged during the last session of the parliament. It is important that future activities of the parliament are in full conformity with the regulations. Further, legislation must provide for high standards for openness of the parliament and for public engagement in the activities of the parliament.
2013-02-05 05:34 See moreTo: Mr. Archil Khabadze Chairperson Adjara A/R Government
2013-02-04 01:56 See moreThe NGOs believe that acts of torture and inhuman treatment that occurred throughout the recent years in the penitentiary system remain unresponded. After videos showing acts of torture and ill-treatment in penitentiary facilities were made public last year in September, the NGOs have highlighted that ill-treatment and investigation of ill-treatment was a systemic problem that the Public Defender as well as NGOs have attempted to tackle throughout the years. The video material made public was one of the examples of the systemic problem. Therefore, in addition to other requirements, NGOs have also demanded independent, objective and effective probe into all cases that involved torture and ill-treatment, including into the cases shown on the video tapes. Further, we also proposed to confer the mandate of investigating to a public prosecutor who would enjoy public trust and would utilize humane and technical resources at its disposal to focus on investigation of torture and ill-treatment; and lastly, to set up within the public prosecutor a board manned by relevant professionals – lawyers, doctors and psychologists, to ensure active engagement and monitoring of public. The board would interview prisoners throughout Georgia, collect evidence and provide it to the public prosecutor.
2013-02-04 00:48 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has been monitoring the developments unfolding at local self-government agencies. A group of problems that has been evident recently is related to dismissals of municipality public servants. It has been reported that dismissals have been based on letters of resignation; however, it must be addressed whether these letters have been written willingly or as a result of psychological pressure or any other illegal action by officials. The present case involves dismissal of two public servants from Kareli Municipality. Neli Sakuashvili addressed GYLA’s office in Gori in written to inform that she was pressured into writing letter of resignation. Nino Maisuradze’s case is particularly attention-worthy as she informed GYLA that she was dismissed from a self-governing unit, Ptsa territorial agency of Kareli Municipality when she was taking a maternity. She states that they had her write a letter of resignation, saying that new Gamgebeli would appoint her again. Under the January 8, 2012 order, N.Maizuradze was dismissed from work based on her own letter of resgination. The order is signed by Acting Gamgebeli of Kareli Municipality Iv. Osadze.
2013-02-01 00:55 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes legal opinion on the draft Constitutional law on Amendments to the Constitution of Georgia. The Parliament of Georgia adopted a resolution on promulgation of the draft law and establishment of a steering committee for public discussions of the draft on December 28, 2012. The proposed draft repeals the prohibition to dissolve the parliament during first six months after its election and during last six months of the presidential term. Further, it revokes the authority of the president to appoint a government if the legislative body fails to approve the government during the noted period of time. Initiators of the draft law state that these amendments have been elaborated to avert the risks of political crisis.
2013-01-25 02:51 See moreAs public is well aware, spending from the reserve funds of the President of Georgia and the Government of Georgia has been one of the fields that lack transparency most of all. Frequently information about spending from these funds could only be obtained following lengthy court disputes. Even so, information provided was mostly incomplete. As spending from reserve funds has been drawing public attention, in view of high public interst GYLA publishes part of the information about some of the strands of spending from the reserve funds of the Government of Georgia envisaged by the 2010-2012 state budgets. Further, GYLA plans to provide public with broader information about spending from reserve fund of the Government of Georgia in 2010-2012, including following the 2012 parliamentary elections.
2013-01-25 02:12 See more