On June 26-29, 2024, as part of his official visit, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani held meetings in Strasbourg. The Public Defender of Georgia met with Maria Peičinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Michael O'Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Veronika Bílková, Vice-President of the Venice Commission, Mathieu Mori, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, as well as Siofra O'Leary, President of the European Court of Human Rights, and Lado Chanturia, Judge elected in respect of Georgia.

The Public Defender reviewed the human rights situation in Georgia and spoke about the challenges and results achieved in different directions, as well as the problems of the population living in the conflict regions and near the occupation line, including the unpunished violations of the right to life, social issues, the need to strengthen self-governments, situation of minorities, working environment of the media and human rights defenders, freedom of assembly and expression, progress of the pre-election campaign, and issues of public awareness-raising.

Among the topics discussed were the opinions of the friend of the court prepared by the Public Defender and the alternative reports sent to the Council of Europe, the possibilities of establishing a fair trial, legislative changes and the activities carried out within the framework of the mandate of the Public Defender’s Office.

At the meetings, heads of international organizations emphasized the importance of the work done by the Public Defender’s Office over the years in the direction of establishing ​​ human rights-based values in Georgia and expressed their willingness to deepen cooperation.

The Public Defender of Georgia also met Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, who was also on a working visit to Strasbourg, and received information about the situation of Ukrainian citizens affected by the war and the processes ongoing for their rehabilitation.

The Public Defender also held meetings with Claus Neukirch, Director of Programme Co-ordination at the Council of Europe, Jan Malinowski, Head of Social Rights Department of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), and representatives of the same department - Margarita Galstyan and Tanya Montanary, as well as the heads of the Department for the Executionof Judgmentsof the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Department of Implementation of human rights, justice and legal co-operation standards, and other high-ranking officials.