Georgian Parliament adopts Juvenile Justice Code

Georgia is establishing a special Juvenile Justice Code for people aged 18 and under so the country can provide a judicial system that meets European standards and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

All criminal cases in Georgia involving minors will soon be handled by police officers, investigators, prosecutors and judges who specialise in juvenile offending.

Today Justice Minister of Georgia Thea Tsulukiani said the youth offenders law had become a topic of conversation in eastern European countries but now western, developed countries "are also interested in our innovative approaches in this field”. 

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia released statistics today reflecting the country’s supportive attitude of recent changes to Georgian legislation for youth offenders.

From next year the Public Defender’s Office will be able to take photos of inmates and their living conditions to show the environment the inmates’ lived in. 

The past three years have been extremely busy for Georgia’s Ministry of Justice; the country signed an Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU), began implementing visa liberalisation requirements and introduced various reforms to make the agency more transparent.

Georgia’s new Juvenile Justice Code is being applauded by international experts for its innovative ways to address youth crime and rehabilitate young offenders.

Today a group of diplomatic corps and media representatives saw first-hand how the Ministry remotely controlled juvenile inmates from the newly established Electric Monitoring Centre of the National Probation Agency.

Georgia took 34th position out of 113 foreign states in the survey, showing high scores in Order and Security component, Open Governance and protecting of Fundamental Rights. Georgia is a regional leader in the Rule of Law Index with the best score compared to 12 other Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries. 

Georgia’s Acting Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili told Parliament that the Ministry of Corrections planned to build a new prison for young offenders aged 14-21 years, through the recommendation and support of the European Union (EU). 

This year more juveniles were offered preventative sentences rather than prison terms, says Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani.

Today Georgia’s Holy Trinity Church in capital Tbilisi hosted an art exhibition of works created by Georgian female convicts and by those who have already served their sentences. 

Open Society Georgia has released a report on how Georgia has fought torture and inhuman treatment in prisons over the course of the last five years.

Georgia’s Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili says that the ministry plans to carry out unprecedented reforms in 2018 to encourage employment in prisoners that will lead to a decrease of prison terms.

Georgia’s Ministry of Corrections intends to ask parliament to award tax privileges and other allowances to businesses that open enterprises in prisons.

The latest Council of Europe survey for mortality rates amongst inmates ranks Georgia as the fifth lowest. 

The Georgian President  Giorgi  Margvelashvili and Minister of Corrections  Kakha Kakhishvili have met today to create a working group, involving the president’s and ministry staff to eradicate the shortcomings in the existing pardon procedure. 

Over 3,000 juveniles have benefited from juvenile justice reforms which have been carried out in Georgia through the joint efforts of the Georgian Justice Ministry, the EU and UNICEF since 2010.

Reforms implemented by the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office in domestic juvenile justice were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between Irakli Shotadze, the Prosecutor General of Georgia, and Jasper Moller, the newly appointed Representative of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund in Georgia.