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).

Community Centers of the Ministry of Justice will continue to operate under the brand of the Public Service Hall. Deputy Minister of Justice, Erekle Gvinianidze presented today the initiative at the session of the Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee in the Parliament.

As a result of the rebranding of Community Centers, instead of 250 services, the population living in rural areas will be offered 470 services according to the usual standard of the Public Service Hall.

"The goal of the Ministry of Justice is that by 2024 there will be no more municipalities without a Public Service Hall. It is for this purpose that the construction of Khashuri, Zestafoni, Supsa, Terjola, Samtredia and Akhmeta branches of the Public Service Hall is currently underway, which will be completed in 2022-23. Next year, the construction of the Mtskheta, Sagarejo, Khelvachauri, Tsalenjikha, Zoti, Tolebi, Shrosha, Tsaishi, Didi Digmi and Gldani branches of the Public Service Hall will begin, which will be completed by the end of 2024. Currently, both the infrastructural renewal of public centers and the process of equalizing the services of the Public Service Hall and training of employees are actively underway. After the completion of the rebranding process, a common standard of service quality will be introduced," said Deputy Minister of Justice, Erekle Gvinianidze.

Rebranding is underway in 88 Community Centers throughout Georgia and the process will be completed by the new year. Kachreti Community Center is the first to start operating under the Public Service Hall brand.

In addition, according to the decision of the Ministry of Justice, the salaries of the employees working in the region and the capital were equalized.

Currently, 28 Public Service Halls, 88 Community Centers and 6 Mobile Public Service Halls are functioning throughout the country.

The importance of migration management in the European integration process was discussed at the meeting held in the Ministry of Justice.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili met with the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration of the Kingdom of Belgium, Nicole de Moor. The meeting was also attended by Chairperson of the State Services Development Agency, Ketevan Betlemidze, Executive Secretary of the State Commission on Migration, Giorgi Jashi, and Head of the International Public Law Department of the Ministry of Justice, Ketevan Sarajishvili.

The parties discussed the reforms and legislative initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Justice within the framework of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan.

The Belgian delegation was also interested in the services of the Public Service Hall. After the meeting held at the Ministry of Justice, the delegation visited Tbilisi Public Service Hall and got acquainted with the concept of providing state services.

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.