The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the first forum on international migration and its progress report.

Representatives of other UN agencies, state agencies and civil society participated in the event organized by the co-chairs of the UN Migration Network - the Permanent Coordinator of the UN in Georgia and the Georgian Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as the regional office of the IOM.

Together with the hosts, the meeting was opened by First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, Tamar Tkeshelashvili, who in her speech emphasized the importance of partnership, coordinated action and general state approach in the field of migration management at the global, regional and national levels, which enabled Georgia to implement the visa liberalization action plan with the European Union and on its basis, has played an important role in the development of field management mechanisms.

The meeting was also attended by Chairperson of the State Services Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice, Ketevan Betlemidze, Executive Secretary of the State Commission for Migration Affairs, Giorgi Jashi, and representative of the agency, Ana Tsuladze.

The first meeting of the advisory group working on issues of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities was held today in the Ministry of Justice. The participants of the meeting were addressed by Deputy Minister of Justice, Buba Lomuashvili and Deputy Head of the United Nations Development Program in Georgia, Anna Chernishova.

Under the leadership of Mr. Buba Lomuashvili, the concept of the advisory group and the annual report on the implementation of the 2022 action plan were discussed at the meeting. The document includes the activities carried out by the Ministry of Justice during the current year for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities. Among them are: revision of the legal system and analysis of its compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; works carried out for the purpose of accessibility of electronic services and websites; Training of system employees on issues of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities; Amendments to the Resolution No. 508 of the Government of Georgia of December 29, 2011, which provides for the issuance of an electronic ID (residence) certificate on preferential terms to a person with severe or significantly expressed disabilities.

After hearing the report, a discussion was held. The participants of the event discussed future plans and activities related to the activities of the advisory group.

Minister of Justice of Georgia Rati Bregadze spoke about the main innovations of the Code at the briefing held today after the government meeting. According to the minister, the project improves the working conditions of the employees of the special penitentiary service and brings the legal status of the persons in the penitentiary institutions to an even higher level.

The Minister of Justice highlighted several important changes:

• The accused persons will be granted the right to a long appointment, which they did not have before;
• All kinds of appointments will become completely free - today adult convicts have to pay 60 GEL, and minors - 30 GEL;
• Except for high-risk convicts, everyone will be granted the right to receive higher education, and therefore the innovative project, which was launched by the Ministry of Justice together with the Ministry of Education and Science - Digital University, will become available to the masses of convicts;
• The number and duration of telephone conversations increases, which will give convicts even more opportunities to communicate with the outside world;
• The living conditions of convicted and accused persons will be equalized, which is undoubtedly a progressive step;
• All units of the penitentiary service will be given a special status, which will equalize and improve the conditions of employees;

The circle of persons with special rank is expanding, and all employees, except for official and rank-and-file employees, will receive a bonus for years of service, which will have a positive effect on their salary conditions.

The legal forum, the purpose of which is to share experience and deepen legal relations between the Ministries of Justice of Georgia and Azerbaijan, was held for the first time this year and ended with the development of a joint declaration.

The First Deputy Minister of Justice summarized the event. Tamar Tkeshelashvili thanked the participants of the forum - the representatives of the Ministries of Justice of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, the lawyers' corps - for their fruitful and interesting work and spoke about the importance of the joint declaration, which will further deepen the sectoral cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The Georgian-Azerbaijani legal forum was held within the framework of the memorandum signed between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries. The event was opened by Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Fikrat Mamadov. Within the framework of the forum, the delegation of Azerbaijan held meetings with Head of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze, and Deputy Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, Manana Kobakhidze.

The Georgian-Azerbaijani legal forum will be held annually and it will be hosted by Georgia and Azerbaijan in turn.

Meetings are taking place within the framework of the Georgian-Azerbaijani Legal Forum. The members of the Azerbaijani delegation together with the Minister of Justice of Georgia met with Chairperson of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze and the Deputy Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, Manana Kobakhidze. The purpose of the meetings is to deepen the cooperation between the two countries.

Rati Bregadze also hosted his Azerbaijani counterpart at the Batumi Public Service Hall. Fikrat Mamadov got acquainted with the specifics of the work of the Public Service Hall and the concept of the Mobile Public Service Hall.

The Georgian-Azerbaijani legal forum is being held in Batumi for the first time this year under the patronage of the Ministries of Justice of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Its purpose is to share experience and deepen legal relations between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries. The forum will be held annually. Georgia and Azerbaijan will host the event in turn.

The purpose of the legal forum is to share experience and deepen legal relations between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries. The event participants include Deputy Ministers of Justice of Georgia and Azerbaijan, representatives of the judiciary, prosecutor's office, lawyers' corps. The forum addresses such issues as: strengthening of the justice system, digitalization of services, strengthening of penitentiary and probation systems, mutual legal assistance; specific initiatives and directions for future cooperation.

The legal forum is a continuation of the close and fruitful cooperation between the Ministers of Justice of the two countries, which began last year in Venice, within the framework of the international conference organized by the Council of Europe. In March of this year, during Rati Bregadze's visit to Baku, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Ministries of Justice of Georgia and Azerbaijan, which, among other events, envisions the holding of annual joint legal forums.

For his contribution to the development of legal relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Minister of Justice of Azerbaijan presented today to Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze with the state medal related to the 100th anniversary of the Justice of Azerbaijan.

The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan is in Georgia within the framework of the Georgian-Azerbaijani legal forum. The forum is being held this year in the city of Batumi for the first time, within the framework of the memorandum signed in March of this year. The legal forum of the two countries will take an annual form, which will further strengthen the Georgian-Azerbaijani sectoral cooperation.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze her a meeting today with his Azerbaijani counterpart Fikret Mamedov. The conversation touched on the further deepening of sectoral cooperation between the agencies based on the memorandum signed between the two countries' justice ministries in Baku. Rati Bregadze emphasized that the sharing of experience and cooperation between the two countries in the area of ​​rule of law and justice is important for the country's democratic development.

Development of directions of departmental cooperation is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Justice. For this purpose, a Georgian-Azerbaijani legal forum will be held in Batumi, and the Georgian-Azerbaijani joint declaration will be signed at the forum. The cooperation envisioned in the document includes joint measures and initiatives at both the central and sectoral levels in 2023.

First Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, Tamar Tkeshelashvili, Deputy Ministers, Tornike Cheishvili and Erekle Gvinianidze also attended the meeting with the Minister of Justice of Azerbaijan.