The Public Defender has addresses Mr. Irakli Garibashvili, the Minister of Internal Affairs with a recommendation to assess legality of dismissal of Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava from her position at the Minister of Internal Affairs.

On April 1, 2013 Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava addressed the Public Defender with a request to assess legality of her dismissal from the position of Detective’s Assistant Investigator in District #10 of Isani-Samgori Division of Tbilisi Main Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. According to Ms. Pirtskhalava’s application she had been dismissed from the position because of her brother’s political affiliation.

After assessing the case, the Public Defender regards that dismissal of Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava was not carried out in compliance with legal norms.

Detective’s Assistant-Investigator, Senior Police Sergeant Irina Pirtskhalava was dismissed from the Minister of Internal Affairs on October 6, 2011, by the order of the Head of the General Inspection Department. It is noted in the order that despite multiple remarks from her immediate supervisor, Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava’s performance remained unsatisfactory; she often skipped work and violated the rule of wearing detective’s uniform. It is noteworthy that according to the employment record of Ms. Pirtskhalava, she has received encouragement rewards on multiple occasions and had not been subjected to any disciplinary sanctions.

It is noteworthy that Isani-Samgori Division did not provide Public Defender with any copies of documents supporting the facts listed in the General Inspection Department order. In addition, there are no records of disciplinary sanctions in the case files.

The resolution of the General Inspection Department of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs and the order of the Head of Tbilisi Main Division regarding dismissal of Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava from her position is an individual administrative-legislative decree. According to the Article 53 of the General Administrative Code of Georgia, while acting within its discretionary authority an administrative body is required to assess all relevant circumstances of the case and base its decision on evaluation and cross-referencing of these circumstances.

In this case, the General Inspection Department of MIA and the Head of Tbilisi Main Division did not examine important circumstances of the case. There is not a single document in the case files that would prove that Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava has committed an administrative offense.

According to the Article 60 of the General Administrative Code of Georgia “an administrative decree shall be nullified, if it contravenes law, or if the statutory procedures of its reparation or promulgation were substantially violated.” In this case, dismissal of Ms. Pirtskhalava from her position which used as an administrative sanction against her, was supposed to be based on assessment of all important facts and circumstances and justification should have been provided in appropriate individual-administrative decree.

Therefore, statutory procedures were substantially violated while reparation and promulgation of the individual administrative decrees by the Heads of MIA General Inspection Department and Tbilisi Main Division which according to Article 60 (1) and (2) of the General Administrative code of Georgia is the grounds for nullification of the administrative decrees.

Consequently, the resolution of the General Inspection Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the order of the Head of Tbilisi Main Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia regarding dismissal of Ms. Irina Pirtskhalava do not comply with the legal requirements prescribed by the Georgian legislation and violate rights of the applicant.