Head oftheDepartment -Nika Kvaratskhelia

Deputy Head oftheDepartment -Daniel Mgeliashvili

Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The objective of the present Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
A Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the Committee against Torture (hereinafter referred to as the Subcommittee on Prevention) shall be established and shall carry out the functions laid down in the present Protocol.
The Subcommittee on Prevention shall carry out its work within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations and shall be guided by the purposes and principles thereof, as well as the norms of the United Nations concerning the treatment of people deprived of their liberty.
Equally, the Subcommittee on Prevention shall be guided by the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity.
The Subcommittee on Prevention and the States Parties shall cooperate in the implementation of the present Protocol.
Each State Party shall set up, designate or maintain at the domestic level one or several visiting bodies for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (hereinafter referred to as the national preventive mechanism).
open the optional protocol!

Public Defender as a National Preventive Mechanism
According to the amendments made in the organic law of Georgia on Public Defender, The Public Defender of Georgia carries out functions of a National Preventive Mechanism, envisaged by the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Public Defender of Georgia or a member of a Special Preventive Group shall examine the situation with regard to the protection of human rights and freedoms in custody and pre-trial detention facilities, as well as in other places of restriction of liberty.
For the purpose of fulfilling the functions of the National Preventive Mechanism, a Special Preventive Group shall be set up at the Public Defender’s, which shall regularly examine the situation with regard to the arrested persons, pre-trial detainees and those whose liberty is otherwise restricted and of convicts, as well as their treatment, for the purpose of protecting them from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
In order to fullfill it's function as National Preventive Mechanism the department of prevention and monitoring has been established within the Public Defender's Office.