Within the framework of his visit to the Hague, Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Executive Director of the European Organization of Prisons and Penitentiary System (EuroPris) Gustav Talvin, based on which Georgia will host a high-level conference on penitentiary services in November 2023.

The topic of the high-level conference planned in November will be innovations in the process of rehabilitation of convicts and probationers. The international conference will be attended by justice ministers of partner states, general directors of penitentiary systems and experts in the field of penitentiary. The partner of the conference is also the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the United States of America.

The Minister informed the Executive Director of Europris on the current reforms in the penitentiary system of Georgia.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze held a meeting today with President of the European Union Cooperation Agency (Eurojust), Ladislav Hamran in the framework of his visit to the Hague.

Within the framework of the meeting, parties emphasized Georgia's successful cooperation with Eurojust and EU member states in the field of criminal justice and the fight against transnational organized crime, which is an important direction of sectoral cooperation in the process of European integration.

The Minister underlined the positive impact of effective and coordinated actions of the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office on the growing dynamics of cooperation with EU member states in the field of criminal law.

Rati Bregadze informed the President of Eurojust about the progress of implementation of the recommendations of the European Union in the fight against organized crime and new initiatives of cooperation in the field of justice.

About 70 students from different universities throughout the country took part in the project "Mock Trial in Human Rights Law". The team of Tbilisi State University became the winner of the mock trial. In addition, the competition revealed the best speaker representing the Caucasus University.

The grant for the educational project was issued by the Ministry of Justice and it aims to strengthen the protection of human rights. The project allows the participating students to develop the skills necessary for a legal career, to raise their qualifications in the direction of the international human rights protection system and to create a contact network.

The final stage of the mock trial was held in Sairme, which was attended by Deputy Minister of Justice, Tornike Cheishvili, Head of Administration Department of the Justice Ministry, Manana Begiashvili and Head of Department of State Representation in International Courts, Nino Nikolaishvili.

The mock trial in human rights law was organized by the European Law Students Association of Georgia (ELSA Georgia). The project took place in several stages in course of 6 months. Law faculty students listened to lectures on human rights, got aquatinted in detail with the principles and practical aspects of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The subject of this year's mock trial was the fight against violence against women and children's rights.

The Ministry of Justice annually announces a grant competition for strengthening civil involvement in the agency's activities. Last year, the Ministry funded best 17 projects. The representatives of the Ministry regularly monitor and support the progress of the funded projects.

Rati Bregadze held a meeting today with the diplomats to discuss in detail the May 12 decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and other legal issues. The meeting was held at the initiative of the Minister of Justice and was attended by representatives of the embassies of the European Union, its member states, the USA, the United Kingdom and Norway.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze held a briefing concerning the decision of the Strasbourg Court published today regarding Mikheil Saakashvili.

"Today, the decision of the Strasbourg Court was published, according to which the convicted Mikheil Saakashvili in the case "Saakashvili v. Georgia" was refused to be transferred to Warsaw and the state was not instructed to transfer him to another treatment facility within the country. All this shows that all the actions of the state since his arrival were correct and in accordance with the highest standards of human rights. I would like to thank all our worthy employees, who unswervingly protect human rights, and special thanks goes to the medical staff, who, despite many insults and slanders, unswervingly fulfilled and still fulfill their duty and stands on guard of human health", said Rati Bregadze.

One of the winning projects in the grant competition of the Ministry of Justice "Innovative Legal Technologies" has been completed. The digital tool, which provides for the automation of the legal drafting process, is already functioning properly. The employees of the Ministry's Law Enforcement Department also underwent several stages of training for the use of the digital platform in the working process. Deputy Minister of Justice, Tornike Cheishvili presented to the authors of the project relevant certificates.

Creating drafts of legal acts using the Logos program of Legaltech simplifies the process related to legal drafting activity and makes it possible to transform text into a schematic image, as well as digital visualization of norms. It should be noted that the German Federal Ministry of Justice uses a similar program in law enforcement activities.

The authors of the project are President of Steinbeis University, Professor of Tbilisi State University, Giorgi Khubua, and the Associate Professor of Law Technologies of BTU, Lado Sirdadze. Emeritus Professor of Viadrina University, Honorary Professor of Vienna University, Stefan Breidenbach was also involved in the implementation of the program.

The Ministry of Justice annually announces a grant competition for strengthening civil involvement in the agency's activities. Last year, the Ministry funded best 17 projects.

The legislative initiative of the Ministry of Justice envisions the simplification of the registration of individual agreements and the issuing of an order on unfulfilled obligations arising from them.

The service was introduced to the representatives of the Business Association of Georgia by Deputy Minister of Justice, Erekle Gvinianidze, and the Chairperson of the National Bureau of Enforcement, Mirian Kharabadze.

According to the project, it will be possible to register a sales agreement (including a lease/rental agreement) in the National Bureau of Enforcement. Its binding condition will be the agreement of the parties that in case of breach of the obligation, the National Bureau of Enforcement, without addressing a court, will issue acts on the payment of the unfulfilled monetary obligation and/or the requisition of the immovable property.

The purpose of the new service is to create a flexible, fast and affordable system for monetary claims and restoration of ownership of real estate, which will allow citizens to save time and financial resources.

The final stage of the student competition in European Union law was symbolically held within the framework of Europe Days.

The mock trial is held every year at the initiative of the Ministry of Justice. Its goal is to popularize EU law among students and increase interest in the European integration process. Within the framework of the competition, students deepen their knowledge, attend special trainings in EU law, and complete written assignments. It should be noted that this year the largest number of participants - 53 teams and 169 students - registered for the competition.

8 teams with the best results took part in the final stage of the student competition. The winner of the competition was the Black Sea International University team. Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili presented to the winners special prizes - educational literature on EU law; All participants of the competition received a special certificate.

The student competition was held with the support of the Training Center of Justice and the EU project "Facility for AA Implementation II”.

Raising public awareness about the European Union, as well as implementing student projects, is a priority of the Ministry of Justice. The agency plans to organize events in these directions in the future as well.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze spoke about the European integration process of Georgia at a meeting held today with the delegation members of the European Affairs Committee of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Georgian side provided the German visitors with detailed information on the current progress towards the implementation of the 12-point recommendations for obtaining the status of a candidate country for EU membership. Rati Bregadze also emphasized the importance of bringing Georgia's legislation closer to EU law and noted that the Ministry of Justice will fully coordinate this process. The relevant legislative initiative is already being discussed by the Parliament, and an electronic platform specially created for this purpose will be launched in the near future.

The role and importance of close cooperation between Georgia and Germany in the process of the country's European integration was also noted.

The members of the delegation noted that the impressions received from the meeting about how Georgia fulfills the recommendations of the European Union are very positive, and they positively assessed the ongoing reforms in the country for this purpose.

The Georgian side expressed hope that the process of the country's European integration will have the unwavering support of Germany.

The Ministry of Justice of Georgia has a close sectoral cooperation with Germany, which was especially strengthened in September 2022, after the visit of the Minister of Justice of Georgia to Germany. In particular:

• The 2022-2025 cooperation program between the Ministries of Justice of the two countries was signed;
• partnership relations were strengthened in the direction of improvement of professional training courses in the penitentiary field;
• In the notary field, an intensive process of experience sharing started and a memorandum of cooperation was signed;
• The Georgian-German legal forum was decided and for the first time it will be held in Tbilisi on July 5-6 of this year.