Georgia’s PM has new assistant on human right issues

Georgian legal expert Sopio Japaridze has been appointed as the new assistant to the Prime Minister of Georgia on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues.

Japaridze replaced Tamar Chugoshvili, who held the position since January 2013.

The Georgian lawyer previously served on the EU-funded project 'Support to the Criminal Justice Reform in Georgia' as the project manager on penitentiary.

Japaridze was presented by PM Irakli Garibashvili at the Human Right Council meeting today.

Garibashvili believed the efficient development of the Government’s National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights was very important for the country.

"I am confident Ms Sophie will honorably fulfill this duty,” Garibashvili said.

The Government of Georgia approved a two-year action plan to boost human rights in Georgia in April that defined priorities to improve the state of hman rights in Georgia for the next seven years.

Meanwhile, after the meeting Japaridze said all human rights should be protected and for her there were no important and less important human rights.

"I believe that there is a need of equal, timely and adequate response to the violations of human rights. But due to the current circumstances more efforts may be needed on the particular issue. For example such as the violation against women but that does not mean that other issues are less important for more for the Government,” Japaridze said.

In her career she has held the position of Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia - a position she was appointed in November 2012.

She has also served as a Senior Legal Expert with the EU-funded project 'Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia' and a lawyer at INTERIGHTS.

Furthermore, Japaridze held the project coordinator position within the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and Article 42 of the Constitution.

Japaridze studied in Georgia and the United Kingdom and graduated in 2010 from the University of Essex of International Human Rights Law.