On June 2, 2023, a working meeting was held between the Public Defender’s Office and the Special Penitentiary Service. Levan Ioseliani, Public Defender of Georgia, and Nika Tskhvarashvili, Director General of the Special Penitentiary Service, participated in the meeting together with the employees of the agencies.

The main issues of discussion were: 1. parole of convicts and 2. aspects of functioning of the internal monitoring mechanism (Monitoring Department) of the Special Penitentiary Service.

The Public Defender’s Office discussed its findings in these two directions, practical and legislative shortcomings, and presented specific recommendations to solve problems. The Special Penitentiary Service spoke about the existing challenges and its vision on how to improve mechanisms.

Convicts have been actively applying to the Public Defender’s Office regarding the full functioning of the parole mechanism for years, and the smooth operation of this mechanism is of great value to each convict.

As for the activities of the Monitoring Department, its function includes the authority to take specific measures against the employees of the penitentiary system in response to the violations of the rights of the accused/convicts (disciplinary offences). Therefore, the effective work of the Department is essential for the prisoners.

The parties agreed on the forms of future cooperation, including on the plan of coordination for improving the parole and internal monitoring mechanisms of the Penitentiary Service.

The meeting was held within the framework of the European Union (EU) project "Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia".