First of all, let me extend to you the assurances of my high consideration and refer to the cooperation between the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the Parliament of Georgia for over the years. This time I would like to bring your attention to the fact of violation of the Regulations of the Parliament of Georgia by the Committee of Legal Issues, which, regrettably, is not the first time the Committee violated the Regulations.On December 3, 2010 the Committee of Legal Issues adopted the legal draft of Charter of Freedom initiated by the MP Giorgi Totladze in the second hearing. Basically the draft is a Georgian version of the U.S.A. Patriot Act adopted in 2001. First and foremost, I shall note that the adoption of the Patriot Act by the U.S. Government was strongly criticized due to the fact that the Act potentially allowed for human rights violations. Therefore, adoption of the Georgian version of the Act, which is below criticism due to its grammatical and legal defects, may not be considered as endorsement of the best U.S. practice.
2010-12-11 08:21 See moreThe Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association opened the traditional human rights week with a peaceful rally outside the Supreme Court of Georgia in the evening of December 9.The rally participants gathered wearing a T-shirts with special symbols, voicing the main messages associated with issues identified during the recent period. Slogan of the rally was “Recognize My Right!”
2010-12-10 08:23 See moreOn November 16, at 12:00pm, GYLA will host the initiative group of media experts and journalistsThe Georgian Young Lawyers Association supports proposals of the initiative group of media experts on freedom of information matters aimed at implementation of significant changes in the sphere of freedom of information. On November 12, 2010, the initiative group submitted its proposal to the Parliament of Georgia, envisaging complex approach for ensuring creation of pluralistic environment in the sphere of media.
2010-11-15 15:26 See moreOn September 3, 2010 MPs L. Tordia, K. Anjaparidze and Z. Kukava submitted a legislative initiative - draft law on Amendments and Addendum to Certain Legislative Acts, which included the draft law on Amendments and Addendum to the Law of Georgia on Police. Article 91 would be inserted in the law, introducing the term stop and frisk. The noted amendment allows a police officer to stop an individual in order to substantiate or dispel suspicions concerning involvement of the person in a crime.
2010-09-21 10:18 See moreAn analysis of political developments throughout the recent history of Georgia demonstrates that it is necessary to select the right political system and form of state governance and to take the interests of different social groups into consideration as much as possible during this process, in order to ensure sustainable and safe development of our country.
2010-08-25 12:27 See moreOn July 2010 the Parliament of Georgia adopted the draft of amendments and addendums to the Law on General Education of Georgia with third hearing, giving bailiffs right to stop and frisk and use force and special device. The Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association gave a negative evaluation to the noted amendments and called on the Parliament to cease review of the draft and continue the process of adoption upon elimination of flaws and immediate threats.Regrettably, the draft was adopted with third hearing. Due to the utmost importance of the matter, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association will submit a proposal for harmonizing the law with constitutional and international standards after the Parliament renews its autumn session.GYLA prepared its findings and legislative initiative concerning the noted amendments (see the attachment), which provides precise frames of performing stop and frisk, imposes additional restrictions on use of force and special device by bailiffs and most importantly, offers procedural guarantees of protection for excessive use of authirty during stop and frisk or use of force. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} View findings of GYLA. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
2010-07-29 15:12 See moreOn July 27 the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association held a meeting with journalists in frames of the project Legal Protection of Media. Purpose of the meeting was to identify legislative flaws that hinder journalists the most from working effectively and can be eliminated through legislative amendments. Local and regional media representatives attended the meeting and discussed the issues that prove to be most problematic in their activity. Following issues had been identified:• transparency of media owners; • financial transparency of media outlets;• high amount of court fee and litigations terms that are too lengthy;• high fees for copying public information, as well as special regulations for acquiring different types of information, such as excerpts from industrial register, certificates from archive, etc; • Public access to court sessions, restriction on photo, video and audio recording;• broadcaster licensing issues;• inability to acquire a soft-copy of public information; • issues of protection of journalists’ labor rights;• Artificial barriers that journalists are facing with regard to access to public agencies and public sessions.
2010-07-28 07:01 See moreThe Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association considers that
2010-07-24 13:06 See moreIn 2009 a citizen M.S. hired a lawyer Sh.Sh. to remove the sequestration order issued in 1996 and paid him USD 620 for the legal service.The lawyer filed an application in court and sequestration order was removed under the court decision. Upon submission of the enforcement document in the Public Register it was revealed that sequestration orders registered before 1997 had been automatically annulled Under Article 35 of the Law on Public Register (2008); therefore, there was no need of applying to court to remove the sequestration order.
2010-07-23 13:04 See moreSince June 2010 expulsion of IDPs from collective centers has become a massive practice. The expulsions are conducted on the basis of the May 27, 2007 #747 order of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia “Rules for Inhibition of Seizure or Other Obstruction to a Real Estate Item under the Ownership”. According to the noted provision, expulsion of IDPs registered at the collective centre is allowed only after a certificate on expedience of IDPs’ expulsion is issued by the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories of Georgia, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia (former Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation). After the Ministry’s issues its consent, IDPs are notified in a written form and they are required to leave premises of the building in five business days. For example, 33 families residing at Tvalchrelidze St. #2, former office of the Pharmacy Unit of the Trans-Caucasian Troops in Tbilisi were evicted in compliance with this rule.
2010-07-22 12:57 See more