Georgia marks European Day of Justice, celebrates four years of successful reforms
Tweet 
Share
Today the European Union (EU) is marking European Day of Justice and Georgia is joining the celebration.
The Government of Georgia today joins the EU in marking European Day of Justice, looking back on four years since the initiation of sweeping reforms which have overhauled Georgia’s justice sector – with marked success across the board, as witnessed by international rankings,” the Administration of the Government of Georgia said in a press release.
The Administration stressed reforming the justice sector had been a cornerstone of Georgia’s internal efforts to meet EU standards since 2012, following a negative track-record of corruption inherited from the previous government.
It said measures introduced included important steps to put an end to corruption and to significantly increase the independence of judges, among other things.
Georgians today have access to a freer, fairer and more transparent justice system than at any point in recent history – the coercive plea bargaining system has been ended, trials are open to the public and to media, the rights of defendants and legal counsel have been increased, trial by jury is more accessible, pre-trial detention is better scrutinised and prisons have been reformed to provide better conditions for prisoners,” the Government’s Administration said.
With these reforms Georgia had jumped 32 places since 2012 in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index, and was now leader in the Eastern Europe/Central Asia region.
European Day of Justice is an EU initiative that aimed to bring justice closer to all European citizens by informing them of their rights and of the available tools in place for facilitating access to cross-border justice. The initiative also aimed to raise awareness of EU law among legal professionals through communication and other related activities across the EU member states and partner countries.
Participating in European Day of Justice was voluntary judicial institutions and bodies of EU member states and partner countries were invited to participate in the annual celebration by organising events for the general public and judicial professionals around the date of October 25.
Georgia has topped the list of Eastern European and Central Asian states in a new study ranking countries on how the rule of law is experienced by citizens.
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.