The Public Defender of Georgia has published a special report “Legislative and Practical Analysis of Administration of Justice and Conditional Release of Life-Sentenced Prisoners”.

The Public Defender’s Office studied the judgements and criminal cases of life-sentenced prisoners, as well as their history during serving a sentence in the penitentiary system.

The purpose of the special report is to introduce the reader to international practice and European standards of ​​sentencing life-sentenced prisoners, as well as issues relating to leniency and the so-called “right to hope”. It also assesses Georgian guarantees and mechanisms in relation to European standards; As a result of the detailed review of criminal cases of life-sentenced prisoners, individual and repeated shortcomings have been identified; the report also shows the trends identified in relation to life-sentenced prisoners during serving their sentence in the penitentiary system.

Out of 89 life-sentenced prisoners placed in the penitentiary system of Georgia, this report concerns 58 life-sentenced prisoners who, in accordance with legislation, already have the right to start necessary procedures for parole or commutation of sentence.

Based on new circumstances identified by the Public Defender's Office during the process of working on the report, one of the life-sentenced prisoners, who had been serving his sentence since 2004, has already been released from the penitentiary institution.

As a result of changes made to the criminal legislation of Georgia several times after the conviction of the life-sentenced prisoner, the legislation no longer provided for life imprisonment for the crimes the convict had committed. The Public Defender's Office examined the criminal case of the convict and, having discovered that the changes made to the criminal legislation were beneficial to the convict, immediately informed the convict about the above. As a result, the convict applied to the court with a request to revise his judgement.

By the ruling of the Criminal Chamber of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal of November 7, 2024, the convict's petition was granted and, based on the arguments of the Public Defender's Office, the prisoner's sentence was commuted to 15 years of imprisonment, which he had already served, and accordingly, he was released from the courtroom.

For the purpose of effectively ensuring the rights of all life-sentenced prisoners, we hope that the findings of this report will assist the Parliament of Georgia, the President of Georgia, the courts, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and the Special Penitentiary Service, as well as all other relevant agencies, in resolving issues within their competence, for example, when issuing a new amnesty or pardon act, when discussing the issue of parole, when preparing a report on the programme of preparation for release, etc.

The Public Defender once again emphasizes that fair administration of justice, including adequate protection of the interests of the families of victims, is of particular importance. At the same time, this should not create a situation where the human rights guarantees of life-sentenced prisoners and the prospects for their parole remain illusory formalities of legislation.

The Public Defender and the Public Defender's Office will continue to actively supervise the protection of the rights of prisoners, including those serving a life sentence.