In 2012 Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association presented its research The Rehabilitation Process Beyond the Façade, most of which focused on involvement of funds established by Tbilisi Government in the process of rehabilitation of historic parts of Tbilisi.

According to the information that GYLA was able to obtain, funds established by Tbilisi Government have been receiving finances from funds envisaged by the state budgets of Georgia in 2008-2012, including the Reserve Fund of the President of Georgia and the fund for projects to be implemented in the regions of Georgia. Further, GYLA was also able to obtain part of the presidential decrees 2009 which was classified as secret according to the president’s administration but nevertheless, they failed to submit to GYLA or to court any documents that would certify that the decrees were indeed classified as secret. 

The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary responds to the draft law prepared by the Ministry of Justice about regulation of applying jury trial to cases of high public interest. 

According to the draft law initiated in the parliament of Georgia, high public interest will be related to status of a defendant; in particular, it will apply to cases where a defendant is an official indicated in Chapter 2 of the Law of Georgia on Conflict of Interests and Corruption in Public Service, holding corresponding position as well as an individual charged with assisting the foregoing individuals in committing crime.  

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association held a presentation of the research “Analysis of Criminal and Administrative Cases with Alleged Political Motive” in Batumi in January 21, 2013 and in Kutaisi in January 22, 2013. 

The meetings were attended by local organizations specializing in human rights and rule of law, representatives of legislative, executive and judicial authorities of Georgia, convicts concerned and/or their representatives. 

Georgian 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. 

As 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.

Georgian 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. 

Today, GYLA submitted to the Parliament of Georgia its opinions on pending amendments to the organic law on the Constitutional Court. Furthermore, GYLA joined NGOs statement submitted below:  

The draft initiated by Vakhtang Khmaladze, head of the Legal Issues Committee on April 4, 2013 aims to introduce amendments to the organic law on the Constitutional Court of Georgia. 

According to the applied regulations, the Constitutional Court is authorized to suspend application of the law if it considers that normative act might lead to irremediable results.  

According to the information released today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Irakli Absandze, editor of the politics unit of the “Liberali” Magazine, who was suspected for  drug procurement, storage and transportation as per Article 260, Para 1 of the Penal Code of Georgia envisaging imprisonment for up to 11 years term.

As Gagi Mosiashvili, Irakli Absnadze’s lawyer reports, Irakli received a parcel from his friend which allegedly turned to be Marihuana. Irakli did not know what was in the parcel- the lawyer declared. 

On June 6, 2006, Tbilisi Government signed an installment purchase agreement with Akhali Rike LLC., transferring 43,350 sq.m. land on Rike territory into the ownership of the company. According to the agreement. The land had been sold for USD 7 million, which amounted to GEL 12,540,500 according to the exchange rate fixed by the national bank at that time.  

According to the information obtained from the registry of companies, Akhali Rike LLC was founded on April 14, 2006, by GMC Holding and a natural person Nikoloz MAkharashvili, each holding 50% of shares. Authorized capital amounted to GEL 200.

The 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.