Prosecutor General to approve action plan for protection of disabled people’s rights
In 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office issued two guidelines about the standards and methods of working with both adult and minor disabled witnesses, victims and defendants. It also noted its goal was to ensure disabled persons’ “equal, full and effective participation” in all stages of proceedings. Photo: Prosecutor's Office of Georgia
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An action plan for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities has been submitted to the Prosecutor General of Georgia for approval, the Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday.
Prepared by the Office’s Human Rights Department, the plan involves measures for protecting persons with disabilities from exploitation, ill-treatment and discrimination, ensuring access to criminal justice, and combating crimes against disabled people.
In comments on the plan the Prosecutor’s Office also said it had taken “important measures” last year to “properly fulfil” the body’s obligations under both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Georgian law.
The statement of the state agency further reads it carried out specific activities for improving the protection of the rights of disabled people, including raising the qualification of its staff, improving access to justice for minors with disabilities, and effectively prosecuting relevant crimes.
In 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office issued two guidelines about the standards and methods of working with both adult and minor disabled witnesses, victims and defendants. It also noted its goal was to ensure disabled persons’ “equal, full and effective participation” in all stages of proceedings.
Plans for strengthening the capacities of the protection of human rights and agencies of the Interior Ministry were on the agenda of a meeting between Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the Georgian Deputy Interior Minister, and Kaori Ishikawa, the United Nations Women Country Representative in Georgia, on Tuesday.
A training programme on the rights and communication standards for the persons with disabilities for Georgian police officers was launched on Friday with the support of the European Union and the United Nations Development Program, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA) reported earlier today.
Tbilisi City Court has denied bail to two police officers, Nukri Bakradze and Kakhaber Bakashvili, who were arrested on Tuesday for a physical assault on a disabled 17-year-old in Tbilisi Metro on Sunday. In his comments on the ruling, judge Mikheil Jinjolia said “based on the standard of substantiated presumption, the crime committed against a person with disabilities was committed for no reason by police officers who are supposed to maintain order.”
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has stated that a lot of progress has been made in Georgia, noting that ‘a lot of work is still needed to build a solid human rights culture and to avoid any backsliding on results achieved.’
The Conference of Prosecutors in Georgia has elected three members of the 15-member Prosecutorial Council, the body tasked with selecting the country’s future Prosecutor Generals, the Prosecution Service of Georgia announced on Friday.
Electronic surveillance of those charged with domestic violence will be used in Georgia to reduce the risk of recurring crimes, the Prosecution Service of Georgia announced on Tuesday.
The further development strategy of the Georgian prosecutor’s office was discussed on Tuesday by the prosecutor general Irakli Shotadze and King’s counsel Max Hill, the director of public prosecutions of England and Wales, within the framework of the 27th annual conference of the International Association of Prosecutors in Tbilisi.
Georgian prosecutor general Irakli Shotadze on Thursday said his body’s recently signed cooperation agreement with the European public prosecutor's office was “another step taken for Georgia’s EU membership”.
Georgian prosecutor general Irakli Shotadze on Monday discussed cooperation and ties with Erik Peterson, the principal deputy director at the United States department of justice, in a Tbilisi meeting, the prosecutor’s office said.
Georgian deputy interior minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, on Wednesday, highlighted the ministry’s “role and responsibility” of ensuring equality in Georgia at the opening event of the Council of Europe’s campaign ‘I choose equality’ within the framework of the project Promoting the Effective Protection of Equality and Non-Discrimination in Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said it had been determined at the constitutional level in Georgia that the state would create “special conditions” for the realisation of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities, as “particularly important” to protect their rights, the Government Administration said.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia on Saturday summarised the activities carried out in the ministry for the protection of the rights of disabled persons at the conference dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia on Saturday announced the Patrol Police Department's unified service centres would offer up to 50 services for the deaf and hard of hearing individuals in sign language from 2023, to fulfil the tasks of the action plan for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The work accomplished in the joint human rights projects involving the Georgian Government on the one hand and the United Nations Development Programme, UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union was discussed on Friday by Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze and officials from UNDP, OHCHR and EU.
Georgia’s Justice Ministry on Tuesday said it had approved the 2023 action plan for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, ensuring compliance with the relevant United Nations Convention and serving to improve the accessibility of the related infrastructure, services and offerings for persons with disabilities.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Human Rights Committee, on Sunday discussed existing and future cooperation with Vladimir Shkolnikov, the Senior Advisor of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Georgia and Besarion Bokhashvili, the Human Rights Officer at OHCHR.