Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze presented today his vision of the development of restorative justice to the participants of the high-level conference organized by the Council of Europe. This was the second session of the Ministerial, at which the Minister of Justice of Georgia delivered a speech. The Ministerial "Crime and Criminal Justice - the Role of Restorative Justice in Europe" is attended by President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rick Demes, President of the Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio, Minister of Justice of Italy, Marta Cartabia, and justice ministers of other European countries.

Based on this statutory requirement every lawyer, investigator, prosecutor, judge, police officer, mediator, social worker, probationer officer engaged in administration of justice related to juveniles, have completed special trainings on the methods of interaction with minors and other related matters.

The Minister of Justice of Georgia spoke about the practice in the field of restorative justice in Georgia. As he noted, according to the Juvenile Justice Code, any person involved in juvenile justice proceedings shall be specialized in this area. Accordingly, lawyers, investigators, prosecutors, judges, police officers, mediators, social workers, probation officers have completed special trainings on the methods of interaction with minors and other related matters.

According to Rati Bregadze, while there is still no undergraduate/graduate program available in Georgia, in cooperation with the European Union a special manual for universities on restorative justice has been developed; In 2021 special chapter about restorative justice was incorporated in the manual for training of professionals in probation system.

The Minister of Justice also spoke about the training of specialists involved in the juvenile justice proceedings, noting that the Ministry of Justice has developed a mediator’s registry mechanism that allows mediators to be trained and prepared for practice through the professional mentorship program; As regards the other actors, such as judges, prosecutors, investigators, police officers and other professionals, their training/retraining is conducted by the training centers of the relevant agencies.

According to Rati Bregadze, despite the steps taken, it is important to include the principles, methods, practices and safeguards of restorative justice in university curricula and other education programs so that all professionals have the necessary knowledge and information to work with juveniles in restorative justice.

During his visit to Italy, the Minister of Justice of Georgia will deliver a speech at another session of the Ministerial. Rati Bregadze has already held a meeting with his Italian counterpart. Face-to-face meetings are planned with the Ministers of Justice of Hungary, Armenia and Azerbaijan.