The Minister of Justice spoke about Georgia's European perspective at the meeting with the members of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Working Group of the European Union.

Rati Bregadze thanked the guests for supporting the reforms implemented in Georgia and the country's western aspiration, which was manifested by the successful completion of the association process and economic integration with the EU countries.

Rati Bregadze spoke to the members of the delegation about the priority directions of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. The conversation touched on the 12 recommendations that Georgia must fulfill in order to receive the status of a candidate country. According to Rati Bregadze, for this purpose, thematic working groups have been created in the Parliament of Georgia, with which the Ministry of Justice, within its competence, actively cooperates.

The Minister expressed his firm belief that Georgia will continue to have the support of the European Union on the way to European integration, and in the near future the country will be able to receive the status of a candidate country for EU membership.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili also attended the meeting.

The parties discussed the issues of deepening bilateral cooperation in the field of justice and agreed that they will work actively to sign the extradition agreement between Georgia and the USA. Rati Bregadze thanked Bruce Schwartz for his support of the reforms implemented and ongoing under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice.

In order to further deepen the cooperation, the Minister expressed the initiative of concluding a memorandum between the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and the US Department of Justice.

The conversation touched on the implementation of exchange programs for the employees of the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Justice. The parties also discussed the possibility of holding a Georgian-American legal forum.

"We are happy to meet with Mr. Schwartz at the Ministry of Justice. We reviewed concrete successful examples of existing cooperation between our agencies. Also, we discussed new initiatives, the implementation of which will bring Georgian-American relations to a new, even higher level in the field of law," said Rati Bregadze.

Bruce Schwartz invited the Minister of Justice to Washington:

"On behalf of the United States Department of Justice, let me say what a great honor it was for me to meet with the Minister and to have the opportunity to discuss with him the issues of the rule of law, and how we advanced the rule of law both in our countries and globally. We talked about the work we are doing collectively on penitentiary and probation systems and wide variety of other issues. We discussed the common goals we have in this context. We noted the fact that we have the potential for discussing an extradition treaty between our two countries, which would further strengthen the relationship and demonstrate the importance of this relationship to both our countries and to the peoples of our countries, so once again, thank you for having me here at the Ministry, I look forward to visits in the futres and I hope to see the delegation of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister in Washington as well," he said.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili also attended the meeting.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze spoke today about the priority of cooperation with Eurojust and EU countries during the meeting with Eurojust President, Ladislav Hamran.

The Minister drew attention to the excellent cooperation between Georgia and EU member states in the field of extradition and criminal law.

At the meeting, it was emphasized that strong sectoral cooperation helps the country in the process of European integration, and hope was expressed that after receiving the perspective of the European Union, the process will end positively with the granting of candidate status to Georgia in the near future.

In addition, at the meeting, the parties talked about the possibility of training and work exchange programs between agencies.

Rati Bregadze met Ladislav Hamran at the Ministry of Justice. Deputy Minister of Justice Beka Dzamashvili also attended the meeting.

For information: Eurojust is the European Union's body for cooperation in the field of criminal justice. Its main activity is the coordination of the cooperation of EU member states in criminal cases, including non-EU partner states in the process of European integration. The agreement between Georgia and Eurojust was signed in 2019.

Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze hosted today the Ombudsman of the Republic of Turkey, Sheref Malkoc. The parties discussed the successful cooperation with Turkey in the field of criminal law and shared recommendations and opinions regarding the protection of human rights in this field.

Topics of discussion covered specific cooperation initiatives, the implementation of which will make the existing strategic and friendly relations between Georgia and Turkey even more intense.

The Minister introduced to the Ombudsman of the Republic of Turkey the priorities of the Ministry's activities, which are outlined in the 10-year Action Plan of the Ministry. Among them, one of the priorities of the Ministry is the reform of penitentiary and probation systems.

According to the Minister, it is important for the agency to further develop the indicated systems in accordance with the best European and international standards, for which a number of thematic reforms are being carried out.

As it was mentioned at the meeting, work is underway in Georgia to further develop the approaches to the rehabilitation and re-socialization of the convicts, in the process of which the interests and needs of foreign prisoners are equally taken into account.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili also attended the meeting held at the Ministry of Justice.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe discussed the "Georgia against Russia (I)" (the so-called "deportation case") at the September debate of this year. At the session, the Georgian representation emphasized the importance of the implementation of the decision of the Strasbourg court in the case under consideration and voiced a clear position that despite the termination of the status of a member of the Council of Europe for the Russian Federation, the respondent state still remains unconditionally obliged to implement the decision.

Within the debates of the Committee of Ministers, the absolute majority of the delegations strongly condemned Russia's non-fulfilment of the above-mentioned obligation and fully shared the position of the representatives of Georgia.

Within the framework of the resolution, the Committee expressed its deep regret that, despite signing the memorandum of understanding, the Russian authorities have not paid the amount awarded to the victims by the European Court. According to the Committee of Ministers, the delay in the execution of the decision particularly harms the interests of the victims.

At the initiative of the Georgian side, the Committee of Ministers called on the member states to use all means to ensure the execution of the case. At the same time, the Committee shared the position of the Georgian side that in the conditions of the termination of the status of a member of the Council of Europe for Russia, it is necessary to develop a strategy for the supervision of the implementation of the decisions taken against Russia, with the involvement of all member states, and instructed the Secretariat of the Committee to submit relevant proposals and a vision for the implementation of the case under consideration before the next session, which will be held in December 2022.

As is known to the public, according to the decision of the Strasbourg Court of January 31, 2019, the Russian government was obliged to pay 10,000,000 euros to the Georgian side to be transferred to the victims who were victims of mass deportation from Russia in 2006. However, despite the efforts of the Georgian side and the Committee of Ministers, which ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the end of 2021, Russia has not yet paid the amount.

At the initiative of the Georgian side, the Committee will return to the consideration of the deportation case at the next session, in December 2022.

As the public will be informed, on January 21, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published its decision on the case - "Georgia v. Russia (II)" (the so-called "War Case"). The decision refers to the administrative practice of massive human rights violations against the population of Georgia during the August 2008 war and subsequent occupation by Russia, which exercised effective control over the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia.

At the meeting of the Committee of Ministers in September of this year, the Georgian side spoke about the importance of the decision and stated a clear position that despite the termination of the status of a member of the Council of Europe for the Russian Federation, the respondent state still has an unconditional obligation to strictly implement the court's decision.

It is significant that the Committee of Ministers fully supported the Georgian side and emphasized the severity and scale of the established violations. The Ministerial Committee strongly called on Russia to submit as soon as possible a comprehensive action plan to implement the decision of the Grand Chamber of January 21 and to start taking effective steps to eliminate the root cause of the violations (i.e. the continued occupation) and to prevent the recurrence of similar human rights violations.

The Committee also expressed deep concern that the Russian Federation, which exercises effective control over Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, still does not allow the internally displaced ethnic Georgian population to return to their homes and called on Russia to implement effective measures in this direction in order to implement the decision.

At the initiative of the Georgian side, the Committee will return to the consideration of the War Case at the next session, in December 2022.

A joint declaration on the digitization of public services was concluded today between the Israeli and Georgian Ministries of Justice. The document was signed by Rati Bregadze and Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Gideon Saar.

The declaration is a continuation of the memorandum signed between the parties in October 2021 and provides for cooperation in such matters as: access to public services, business and land registration, notary services, electronic apostille and others.

Before signing the document, a meeting was held between the parties. As Rati Bregadze noted, the signing of the declaration on digitalization of public services, the planned seminars and joint events are a clear example of the quick and effective implementation of the memorandum signed in October last year.

Rati Bregadze also informed his colleague about the latest developments in the field of service delivery. It was noted that 8 Mobile Public Service Halls are already functioning for the population living in rural areas and their number will increase to twenty by the end of the year. According to the Minister, work is underway on the mobile application "JustApp", which will allow the users to receive all services online. At the meeting, the Georgian party also offered Israeli scientists to publish articles in Iustitia magazine.

First Deputy Minister of Justice, Tamar Tkeshelashvili, Deputies, Beka Dzamashvili, Buba Lomuashvili, Tornike Cheishvili, as well as Israeli Ambassador to Georgia, Hadas Meitsadi attended the meeting

The representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities got acquainted today with the changes prepared in the Ministry of Justice.

The purpose of the draft law is to bring Georgian legislation closer to European law, in particular, to recognize as binding the Hague Convention of November 23, 2007 "On International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance" and the Protocol of November 23, 2007 "On the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations".

In case of ratification of the Hague Convention and Protocol, international recovery of child support from responsible persons will be ensured for children in Georgia, if necessary. The contracting states of the Convention will cooperate to establish a system of mutual assistance and to implement efficient and speedy enforcement of justice in disputes of an international nature of family support.

In addition to the fact that mandatory recognition of these legal acts is an obligation for our country under the agenda of association between Georgia and the European Union, the convention sets a high standard for the protection of the child's rights taking into account his/her best interests.

It is planned to ratify the Hague Convention and Protocol in the near future.
The discussion on the legislative changes prepared for the implementation of the Hague Convention and Protocol was held in Georgia with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).