The Parliament’s Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee has started consideration of the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Parliament’s resolution of June 24, 2016, following the Public Defender’sReport on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2015.

On 20 February 2017, Supreme Court Chairperson Nino Gvenetadze reviewed 6 recommendations implemented by the Supreme Court and the High Council of Justice of Georgia.

The Public Defender considers that the Supreme Court and the High Council of Justice partially implemented the recommendation on taking measures for consideration of criminal cases within a reasonable time, definition of a sufficient number of judges and other public officials and their appointment, since despite the increase in the number of judges in the common courts and the opportunity for equal distribution of cases among judges as a result of the amendments made to the Organic Law on Common Courts, consideration of casesis stilldelayed and several cases were studied even by the Public Defender's Office.

The following recommendation was also partially fulfilled: the court to discuss in detail the necessity of the use of pre-trial detention against a defendant, as well as the financial state of a defendant or a person who pays a bail when the defendant is released on a bail.

The Public Defender considers that the use of detentionhas been reduced, but comprehensive and detailed examination of the legal grounds for the use of the measure of detention is still problematic. The recent practice of Tbilisi Court of Appeal of considering the defendant’s financial state while determining the amount of a bail should be praised; however, it should be noted that the court takes into account only the materials submitted by the parties about the defendant's property.

The recommendation on timely, objective and comprehensive study of and response to the complaints about disciplinary violations of judges has not been implemented, since a private letter of recommendation was issued only in one case, which refers to the shortcomings in the disciplinary proceedings.

The recommendation on the request of the launch of an investigation and provision of an alleged victim with relevant protection if a person brought before the court has signs of torture or other ill-treatment on his/her face and body or if there is a reasonable basis for suspicion of ill-treatment, has not been implemented either.

The Public Defender's recommendation envisaged training of judges with regard to the function of the National Preventive Mechanism and taking measures for effective implementation of the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.

The report on the implementation of the recommendation sent to the Ministry of Justice was presented by Deputy Minister of Justice Alexandre Baramidze. The recommendation concerned thorough examination and study of information and documentation protected in the Public Registry in compliance with the Georgian legislation before the registration of property rights, in order to avoid overlapping.

The Public Defender considers that some steps have been taken, but the recommendation cannot be considered fully implemented, since the current norms mainly refer to the powers and not liabilities of the registration authority. In addition, systematization of the protected documents and their arrangement in an electronic format, as well as the completion of the transfer of the data of the technical bureau, should be praised. However, questions remain with regard to many details and it should be ascertained how these data are used in the working process.