In accordance with Article 21 of the Georgian Law on the Public Defender of Georgia, the Public Defender of Georgia, George Tugushi, has addressed the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nikoloz Gilauri, with a recommendation to ensure the revision of the regulations relating to obtaining the right to conduct forensic medical examinations and, by making the corresponding changes in the government order, to resolve the issue in such a way that will ensure that the principle of proportionality between private and public interests is observed.

On October 25, 2011, the Public Defender received the application of the Director of an independent center for forensic examinations Vectori LLC, Alexandre Gejadze. Vectori LLC conducts different types of examinations, including forensic medical examinations.

As is noted in the application, Vectori LLC has been operating since 2005. In May 2005, it obtained the license to conduct forensic medical examinations from the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia. Later, in accordance with a change made in the legislation, the requirement to obtain a license for the aforementioned activity was abolished.

Article 1 of the August 21, 2007, Order No. 245/N of the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia determined the list of activities which are part of forensic medical examinations. According to this order, forensic medical examinations include:

• Examination of dead bodies in the case of violent death;
• Examination of dead bodies if violence is suspected or if there are any other circumstances that make it necessity to conduct a forensic medical examination;
• Examination of the victim, the accused, or other persons, as well as forensic medical examination of citizens, examination of the character, age and severity of body injuries, sexual condition and other issues;
• Examination in connection with materials of civil and criminal cases;
• Examination with medical documents.

On December 17, 2010, by Resolution No. 385 of the Government of Georgia, forensic medical experts’ activity was again subjected to licensing requirements and new licensing terms were introduced.

The aforementioned resolution determined licensing terms according to which, in order for a private establishment to obtain a license, it has to have premises equipped with the infrastructure needed to examine dead bodies (body refrigerators, means of transportation, section tables, stretchers, etc.). The establishment has to be able to confirm that the premises are under its ownership by documents confirming ownership rights.

The introduction of the aforementioned licensing requirements can be considered as justified for the types of examinations provided for in Paragraphs a) and b) of Article 1 of the August 21, 2007 Order (examination of dead bodies in the case of violent death and examination of dead bodies if violence is suspected or if there are any other circumstances that make it necessity to conduct a forensic medical examination).

As for the remaining three types of examinations (examination of the victim, the accused, or other persons, as well as a forensic medical examination of citizens, examination of the character, age and severity of body injuries, sexual condition and other issues; examination in connection with materials of civil and criminal cases; examination with medical documents), naturally, it is not necessary to have premises equipped with the infrastructure needed to examine dead bodies to conduct them.

The rules establishes by the government resolution create a situation in which private establishments are devoid of all possibilities to conduct both an examination of living persons and an examination with documents unless they own premises provided for in the licensing terms and the tools which should be part of the relevant licensing requirements for the examination of dead bodies.

The Public Defender considers that it is correct to subject all the existing directions of examinations to licensing requirements, but it will be expedient if relevant and necessary requirements are established for obtaining a license for each direction, which will ensure the achievement of high-quality results through less strict restrictions