Head of the Department - Giorgi Talakhadze

The Regional Department represents a territorial body and a primary structural unit of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia, which acts on behalf of the Public Defender of Georgia when performing its functions.

The Department shall be accountable to the Public Defender of Georgia and the Deputy Public Defender, who shall supervise it in accordance with the law.

The goal of the Department shall be to:

to ensure the detection of rights violations in the regions of Georgia, in order to facilitate the effective implementation of the mandate of the Public Defender.

The functions of the Regional Department shall be to:

1. a) create information channels for detecting human rights violations and promote their functioning;
2. b) identify and document individual and systemic rights violations;
3. c) advocate for solutions to the systemic rights violations and problems;
4. d) promote the activities of the relevant structural units of the Office through the employees of the Department, including through visits to the Penitentiary Department institutions in the regions, temporary placement isolators and other types of institutions, meetings in local self-governments and communication with beneficiaries;
5. e) implement measures in the direction of educational activities in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms;
6. f) immediately deliver electronically the correspondence, applications/complaints received by the regional offices of the Public Defender’s Office and other documents related to the cases to the structural unit authorized to register documents;
7. g) receive interested persons in the regional offices of the Public Defender’s Office, provide legal consultation and inform them of the mandate of the Public Defender;
8. h) hold meetings with representatives of state and non-state bodies, attend meetings held with them on issues related to the activities of the Office;
9. i) implement other functions arising from the specifics of the Department's activities.

The Head of the Regional Department shall be responsible for the management, coordination and supervision of the activities of the Regional Department. In the absence of the Head of the Department, the person performing his duties shall be determined by the Public Defender.

The operational area of the Regional Department shall cover the following territories:

a) Imereti,

b) Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti,

c) Autonomous Republic of Adjara,

d) Samegrelo, Zemo Svaneti,

e) Guria,

f) Kakheti,

g) Kvemo Kartli,

h) Shida Kartli,

i) Samtskhe-Javakheti,

j) Mtskheta-Mtianeti,

k) Tbilisi.

In addition, persons employed in the operational area of the Department within the framework of various grant projects shall be subordinate to this Department.

The main workplace of the Head of the Regional Department shall be Tbilisi.