Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association believes that investigation into the death of Mikautadze should immediately be transferred to investigators of the office of the prosecutor. 

Lawyer from GYLA’s office in Tbilisi was providing legal aid to defendants Giorgi and Lasha Sozashvili in criminal proceedings concluded on July 12, 2013, by the verdict of not guilty delivered by Tbilisi City Court. 

The defendants were charged with crime envisaged by para.2, Article 353 of the Criminal Code of Georgia – resisting a police officer or any other government representative to impede the protection of public order or terminate or change his/her activity, as well as coercing thereof into an explicitly unlawful action, perpetrated under violence or threat of violence, perpetrated by a group. 

According to media reports, on July 29 there was an attempt to disrupt an event of the political union United National Movement (UNM) on July 20 in Zugdidi. The scheduled event was held amid a protest rally. Party leaders and delegates were verbally abused by citizens that had assembled outside, throwing rocks and bottles at them. One of the journalists was injured during the incident. The same day it was also reported that local population had been mobilized at the rally by local self-government authorities. Another one of the UNM’s primaries was held amid confrontation in Batumi on July 21. 

Closing Date: 22 August 2013

On July 22, 2012, during a press-conference held at the office of the prosecutor it was reported that the investigating authorities found no evidence that Mamuka Ivaniadze was subjected to pressure during questioning. This statement has been issued in response to the press-conference and other developments in the case of Mamuka Ivaniadze.  

The parliament of Georgia is considering a draft of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia. GYLA has submitted its written opinion on the following two Articles of the proposed draft: 

Since the Soviet times, Article 171 has been prescribing administrative liability for being in public under the influence of alcohol or in a condition that offends human dignity and public moral. In the proposed formulation “under the influence of alcohol” has been deleted. GYLA believes that both the original formulation that dates back to 1984 and the proposed draft currently under consideration of the parliament are ambiguous, contradicting the principle of legal state in which law should stipulate actions allowed or prohibited in a clear and foreseeable manner; both existing and proposed formulation of Article 171 fail to do so. It provides a broad discretion for law enforcement authorities to decide what constitutes immoral behavior and apply restrictive measures against an individual concerned. Considering that offensive harassment, using a bad language and other similar actions are already qualified as violation, leaving an ambiguous stipulation in the law would be unjustified. 

Public officials’ remuneration is regarded one of the most important aspects for the functioning of public offices both in Georgia and elsewhere in the World. Issues such as effective fight against corruption in public office, attracting qualified candidates to government jobs, keeping public servants motivated and ensuring high quality of work performed are all linked with remuneration. Accordingly, improvement of the pay system must become a priority for any public office reform.  

On July 30, 2013, at 15:00, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development presented researches in frames of their joint project Georgian and EU Migration CPDD Improving Mechanisms of Migration Control between Georgia and EU.  

Georgian Young Lawyers' Association applies to the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia about the case of Giorgi Gvichiani.