GYLA helped protect rights of victims of domestic violence

Lawyers from offices of GYLA in Tbilisi and Kutaisi represented women victims of domestic violence. Restraining orders were issued at their request and perpetrators were prohibited from having any kind of relationship with the victims.

GYLA’s office in Zugdidi helped a beneficiary to register his property rights

Lawyer of GYLA’s office in Zugdidi represented M.E., who had applied to Zugdidi Office of the National Agency of Public Registry, requesting specification of the borders and the area of his own property; however, Zugdidi Office decided to terminate registration proceedings. GYLA’s office in Zugdidi helped the beneficiary solve the problem – the court fully granted his claim.

 With the help from GYLA’s office in Kutaisi, two beneficiaries were relieved of administrative liability

With the help from lawyers in GYLA’s office in Kutaisi, two beneficiaries were relieved of administrative liability and released on warning. One beneficiary had been accused of illegally restricting public areas based on a protocol of violation prepared by a representative of Kutaisi City Hall’s Architecture and Supervision Service. Another beneficiary had been accused of defacement of appearance of a self-governing entity.  

  On September 16, 2015 the Constitutional Court of Georgia announced its ruling in Giorgi Ugulava’s case. We issue this statement in light of the recent developments around the case. Over the past two days there have been different reports about involvement and participation of Judge Merab Turava in the Court’s deliberations of the complaint. The Constitutional Court was scheduled to announce its decision on September 15, 2015, but the announcement was delayed after Merab Turava failed to appear to sign the ruling, citing health problems. The court then clarified that it was not authorized to announce the ruling without signatures of all judges presiding over the case, which was followed by Turava’s ambiguous and vain arguments to justify his absence. On September 16, after Turava ultimately refused to sign the document, the court made the decision to announce the ruling in absence of his signature.

  GYLA expresses extreme concern over alleged police violence against Lawyer Giorgi Mdinaradze on November 8, and urges the Office of the Prosecutor to ensure prompt, comprehensive and objective investigation and prosecution of the incident. It has been reported that Lawyer Mdinaradze, who was at the fifth department of Vake-Saburtalo Police to represent his juvenile client, was allegedly subjected to physical violence by police officers. Based on representatives of the Public Defender, Mr. Mdinaradze was injured during the incident - he has hemorrhaging and bruising around his right eye, scratches on scratches on his left jaw, and a bruising on the right side of his neck.

 Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) is monitoring October 31 majoritarian by-elections in Martvili and Sagarejo. 

 GYLA’s observers reported acts of confrontation outside Sagarejo no.42 electoral precinct where supporters of majoritarian candidates from the Georgian Dream and the Alliance of Patriots clashed. Based on GYLA’s observers, total of 7 people were involved in the incident. Physical confrontation was also reported outside Satarejo no.20 electoral precinct. PEC Chairperson called police to the scene of the incident to maintain order and avoid provocation. 

 Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) observed by-elections of the Parliament of Georgia in Martvili and Sagarejo held on 31 October 2015. On the day of voting about 20 observers of GYLA observed election process statically and through mobile groups. Based on experience it was decided to focus on those election precincts that were problematic during the previous elections, created on exceptional basis and inhabited with ethnic minorities.On the voting day GYLA observers identified 19 violations, including: 4 cases of improper implementation of official duties by members of electoral commission, 2 cases of presence of unauthorized persons in the precinct, 3 cases related to improper equipment of precincts, 2 confrontations near precincts, 5 cases of filling in the control paper with deficiencies, 1 case of voting without marking and 2 cases of improper arrangement of the voting building. The observers also detected that 8 groups of unidentified people were present near election precincts.

  On 12 November, with coordination by the Open Society Georgia Foundation, five Georgian non-governmental organizations addressed their written statement to the justices of the International Criminal Court concerning the commencement of investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity possibly committed during the August 2008 war. The statement has been signed off by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the Article 42 of the Constitution, the Human Rights Center and the Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims.

According to media reports, current and former journalists of Tabula (Irakli Kiknavelidze, Levan Sutidze, Nino Macharashvili and Avto Koridze) were attacked by several unknown individuals and assaulted verbally and physically, destroying inventory of the restaurant where the incident occurred.