Category: Georgia JILEP

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Giorgi Tshekhani, HSOJ Head of Administration, explains software content.

On February 6, the High School of Justice (HSOJ) presented its new website and web-portal to the public. The HSOJ leadership explained that the software package, developed by the Georgian company Idea Design with the support of EWMI through the Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP), includes three major elements: 1) a new organization website; 2) an online catalogue of the HSOJ library; and 3) a web platform made up of “portals” for the special use of student judge candidates, sitting judges, and court staff.  The student judge portal allows student judges to see their training program calendar, receive ‘alerts’ regarding class changes, receive class assignments, and view their evaluation results and class ranking. It also allows students to communicate with their instructors, submit class assignments and take examinations electronically.  Sitting judges and court staff will use their portals to participate in the design of their respective continuing legal education programs, sign-up for training events, and evaluate training content. Overall, the software package will allow the HSOJ to communicate with its students and professors with greater ease and efficiency, and make HSOJ operations more transparent.

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On April 16, 2014, EWMI and the National Center for Commercial Law (NCCL) at Free University held an event to publicly present a newly published, Georgian language, Contract Law Textbook. Georgia’s leading experts in contract law wrote the book over the course of the last year – under the editing direction and with the financial support of EWMI through the Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP). The book is designed to be used in the modern law school classroom. It not only provides law students with explanations of the core concepts of Georgian contract law, but the book is also structured in a way that teaches them how to analyze and solve problems. Each chapter of the book consists of a theoretical section, enriched by relevant practical examples. More than 100 people attended the book release event and the book signing that followed. Both EWMI-JILEP and the NCCL have made the book available online through their websites. EWMI will provide a number of hard copy versions to targeted law school libraries, public libraries, law firms, and relevant government institutions.

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In July 2012, the gender distribution in the Georgian Judicial Administration was 63% male. Several high positions within the court lacked female representation and were entirely made up of male jurists.

To address this issue of gender disparity in the courts, in April 2013, the Deputy Chief of Mission Bridget Brink, Supreme Court Chairman Konstantine Kublashvili, and the Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani joined to host a conference, organized by EWMI’s Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP), entitled “Gender in the Court: Working Toward a More Inclusive Court System.” The conference aimed to foster the development of a court system that encourages women to play a greater role in the running of courts and the development of the justice system. 

A few months after the conference, noticeable improvements could already be seen. As of July 2013, female jurists moved into court positions which were previously without female representation. The number of female HCOJ Members rose from zero to three, while the makeup of the Disciplinary Committee also shifted to include a female jurist and two female non-judge members. Although the shift towards a more even distribution of gender in the courts is exciting, several positions, including the Disciplinary Chamber and the Judge chairs of the Chambers of the courts, remain entirely male.  EWMI will continue to support initiatives aimed at balancing the scales and encourage further progress.

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GYLA and TI Georgia Court Monitoring Reports

EWMI Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) grantees, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and Transparency International Georgia (TI) presented the findings of their most recent court monitoring efforts on April 2, 2013.  In GYLA’s case, their findings covered the period July to December 2012; TI’s reporting covered the period June to October 2012. While GYLA and TI found that the courts generally followed the procedures prescribed by law, they noted that the courts continued to show a clear preference for the prosecution in criminal cases and for the state party in administrative cases.

They found this preference was especially evident in cases where political interests were involved. While the groups reported a slightly positive trend towards objectivity and professionalism by the courts, the results were not substantially different than what the groups reported six months ago. The only truly significant change observed in the behavior of the courts, was in cases involving former government officials charged with crimes by the new government. In these cases, the courts were substantially more lenient toward the defendants in terms of imposing bail and pretrial detention than they had been with any other category of defendant in the past. Judicial representatives attended the April 2nd event and provided their views of the reports’ findings. They expressed their general support for the monitoring efforts but suggested that the reports did not provide a complete picture of what was happening in the courts.

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GBA General Assembly (Prosecutor General Archil Kbilashvili- front row, second from left)

On December 8, the Georgian Bar Association (GBA) held its annual General Assembly. By the end of the meeting, the Assembly had adopted long awaited amendments to the Professional Ethics Code of Lawyers and the GBA’s Disciplinary Responsibility By-laws. These amendments were drafted over the course of last year by a working group of GBA members and with the technical assistance of EWMI’s Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) and its experts, Professor James Moliterno of Washington and Lee University School of Law, USA, and Mr. Jim McCauley of the Virginia State Bar. The General Assembly discussion on the amendments lasted for nearly three hours; they ultimately adopted the amendments by a 234 to 5 vote.

During the Assembly, Georgia’s new Prosecutor General (and former GBA Ethics Committee member) Archil Kbilashvili, spoke to the membership about the need to reform the plea bargaining system, and forms of possible cooperation between his office and the GBA. He indicated his interest in giving GBA members access to the library of the General Prosecutor’s Office and signing some type of memorandum of cooperation with the GBA. Also during the meeting, Eka Gasitashvili, Chairman of Ethics Committee, and Zviad Kordzadze, Chairman of CLE Committee, reported on their committees’ work and mentioned their appreciation for assistance received from JILEP.