References: Constitution of Georgia, art.42 Criminal Procedures Code Civil Procedures Code Administrative Procedures Code

Peer Review Comments: The same right is provided in various international documents signed and ratified by Georgia (e.g., ECHR, ICCPR). International law is also part of the domestic legal system.

References: See GYLA research on judiciary after the Revolution of Roses: www.gyla.ge

Peer Review Comments: The recent court restructuring has created some problems, but things have gotten better gradually. More needs to be done to reach the proper level of case management.

References: Interview with the Parliamentary Secretary of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association Besarion Abashidze Interview with defense lawyer Giorgi Zedelashvili; Procedural Laws

Peer Review Comments: Court duties were decreased after the industrialists lobbied the parliament. The problem with expenses is not with court duties, but with the fact that hiring a lawyer is becoming more and more expensive and the middle class cannot bear the costs.

References: See Human Rights Watch's Open Letter to the Tbilisi City Court Chair: [ LINK ]

See open letter to the president of Georgia by 71 NGOs and media outlets: [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: 1. Georgia now has an adversarial system and those who are not well prepared are likely to loose, which means that not every lawyer who claims an unfair decision was made was prepared enough to win the case. Alternatively, not every prosecutor winning the case was prepared enough to achieve the desired result.

2. Independence of the judiciary has an institutional and personal side. Individual independence of Georgian judges is questionable. "Telephone justice" (and bribery) is the main tool used to get the desired judgment.

References: See regular reports of the statistics in the newspaper "24 Hours".

Peer Review Comments: A year ago, the Enforcement Department at the MOJ had very bad facilities, bailiffs who had no idea what to do and very little computer equipment. With donor efforts, this is changing and we will see significant increase in enforcement of private party decisions. The problem that will be more difficult to address has to do with executing judgments against the state. See Amat G case from ECHR.

References: Constitution of Georgia Law on Common Courts Law on Supreme Court

Peer Review Comments: The institutional independence of the judiciary is fully guaranteed in the law, especially with the most recent changes regarding the composition of the High Council of Justice and the creation of the High School of Justice of Georgia, which is charged with training judicial candidates and re-training sitting judges.

References: See polls by IRI: www.iri.ge; See newspaper "24 Hours" from Aug. 8, 2007

References: Law on Distribution of Cases within the Judicial System

References: Law on Disciplinary Procedure of Judges of Common Courts; See Opinion from March 2007, of the Venice Commission for Democracy through the Law about Law of Georgia on Disciplinary Procedure of Judges of Common Courts

Peer Review Comments: The Venice Commission view was drafted before the changes and amendments to the legislation, which have remedied the situation. The governing body of the judiciary - the High Council of Justice - is no longer an Advisory Body to the President. It consists of 15 members, of which the majority are judges. Disciplinary cases are now heard by panels the majority of which are also judges, and there is an appeals procedure. Most importantly, the criminal code provision that allowed for criminal prosecution of a judge for making a "wrong" decision has been revoked. This was used by prosecutors as an intimidation tool.

References: There have been no media reports.

References: There have been no reports.

References: There have been no media reports. No facts are known.

Peer Review Comments: There are cases where the interests of those citizens who do not speak Georgian are not protected by the courts, probably because of the lack of professionalism of the translators.

References: The problem has not been reported. No division of that type exists in Georgia.

Peer Review Comments: Domestic violence cases are a bit troublesome.

References: Criminal Procedure Code Law on Public Defender

Peer Review Comments: Please see the law on legal aid.

Peer Review Comments: The Ministry of Justice Legal Aid Commission was created recently. Its aim is to provide legal assistance to citizens who cannot afford to hire qualified lawyers.

References: www.moj.gov.ge www.gyla.ge

Peer Review Comments: There is special department at MOJ that is funded through the state budget. Other organizations (NGOs) also assist clients with legal advice free of charge.

Peer Review Comments: As the Ministry of Justice Legal Aid Commission has only been recently established, it is difficult right now to measure its effectiveness.

References: There have been no reports of problems for middle class citizens.

Peer Review Comments: I believe they can. However, there is no data available on what is an average cost per case.

References: Interview with the Parliamentary Secretary of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association Besarion Abashidze Law on State Dues, art. 4

Peer Review Comments: I agree with the score, but I don't think small businesses cannot afford the fees per se. They simply cannot afford the time it takes to get court judgment. For businesses, as for individuals, time is money, and sometimes business owners feel that they cannot afford to take the other side to court.

References: There have been no reports of serious problems in this respect, other than due to severe winter conditions in mountainous regions.

Peer Review Comments: The High Council of Justice has yet to appoint all magistrate judges. Once they are appointed, this should make courts more accessible to those living in the mountains. It must be noted, however, that prior to 2005, there were 78 courts in Georgia and those in the mountains received three to four cases per year. This was the main reason for consolidating the courts. Establishing the magistrate judge position was supposed to ensure that the mergers did not adversely affect the population's ability to access justice.