International Prosecutors Association awards Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, elects Prosecutor General as honorary member

The International Association of Prosecutors, has awarded Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office for its “high-level hosting” of its annual event in Tbilisi last year, and unanimously elected Irakli Shotadze, the country’s Prosecutor General, as its honorary member for his work in implementation of “genuine reforms” in his agency.

Promoted as the only worldwide organisation of prosecutors, the Association made the decisions during its 28th annual conference in London between September 24-27. 

The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Thursday cited Secretary General Han Moraal as saying Shotadze had been elected for his “special contribution to the implementation of the goals of the Association”.

He also pointed to “significant reforms and developments” ensured by the Georgian official while in office for increasing the “independence, power and transparency” of his body “in accordance with recommendations of international organisations”. 

Moraal stressed the IAP was “proud” of enjoying “common values” with the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia and their existing “strategic partnership”. 

He further noted in 2018 the Georgian agency had nominated its own representative Giorgi Gogadze to the Secretariat of the IAP as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association, and noted the move “once again confirmed the readiness of the Georgian Prosecutor's Office to be an important contributor and strategic partner of IAP”. 

Speaking about the IAP’s Tbilisi event, Moraal said in 2018 his organisation’s Executive Committee had approved the proposal by the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia to host the Association's 26th annual conference in Tbilisi in 2021, which did not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Despite this, Shotadze once again emphasised his readiness to host the event in 2022, with everyone attending it having experienced the host's hospitality, enthusiasm and extraordinary organisation of the event. All of this would not have happened without Shotadze’s perseverance”, Moraal said. 

Extending his gratitude to the IAP for the award, Shotadze claimed it was the result of the “selfless work of each employee” of his agency.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia has been a member of the IAP since 2011, with the domestic agency saying it has been “closely cooperating” with the international body since 2014. The Association was founded in 1995 and unites more than 183 organisational members from over 177 countries.