Pursuant to the amendments made to article 60 of the Imprisonment Code, the Public Defender and members of the Special Preventive Group have been authorized to take photos of prisoners’ bodily injuries and material conditions in the penitentiary facilitiesfrom September 1, 2016. In order to fully realize this authority, three-day training was held on the issues of photography for the employees of the Department of Prevention and Monitoring, the Department of Criminal Justice and the Regional Department of the Public Defender’s Office on 28-30 October.

During the training, Kakha Pkhakadze, Chairman of the Georgian Photographers’ Association, briefed the training participants of the basics of photography, how to work with a photo camera and technical means of photo editing. The course included practical exercises, test shooting and consideration of photos taken during the test.

Nika Kvaratskhelia, Head of the Department of Prevention and Monitoring of the Public Defender's Office, talked about the regulatory rules of taking photos in the penitentiary facilities and procedures of filling in relevant documents.

The event was held within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Enhancing the Capacities of the Public Defender’s Office in Georgia”.