News

2019

16

May

Activities Supported by USAID/PROLoG to Promote Legal Ethics in Georgia

Second Academic Conference on Legal Ethics

On May 12, USAID/PROLoG supported the Legal Ethics Chair at New Vision University’s (NVU) second academic conference on Legal Ethics. Deputy Chief of Party Brian LeDuc and New Vision University rector David Kereselidze made opening remarks. Program included presentations from members of Georgian Bar Association’s (GBA) Ethics Commission (EC) Ana Loria and Irakli Kordzhakhia who covered ongoing problematic issues of Disciplinary proceedings of GBA’s EC as well as fees and fiduciary duties of lawyers. Legal Ethics Chair, Sophio Chachava talked about confidentiality and conflict of interest issues, while other speakers covered topics like ethical issues from the perspective of civil servants and arbitrators as well as Lawyer’s freedom of expression in Social Media.
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2019

15

May

Commemorating National Judges’ Day and Meetings with Students

Twenty years ago, on May 15th, 1999, the courts of appeals started operating in Georgia. To acknowledge this significant stage of judicial reform and the judge’s valuable role in society, May 15 was recognized as Judges’ Day in Georgia.
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2019

07

May

USAID/PROLoG Supports Public Lectures on Freedom of Expression

On April 25, under the framework of its USAID-funded EWMI/PROLoG grant, the National Institute for Human Rights at Free University Tbilisi hosted a public lecture. The topic of the public lecture was Freedom of Expression in the latest practice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and Tbilisi Court of Appeals.
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2019

03

May

USAID/PROLoG supports awareness raising activities on legal ethics

On April 30, USAID/PROLoG supported a lecture for students on the Standard of proving and sharing burden of proof in disciplinary proceedings of the Ethics Commission. The lecture was organized by the Legal Ethics Chair at New Vision University, and given by Tamar Khubulurie, Head of the Legal Department of the Georgia Bar Association’s Ethics Commission, and senior researcher of the Legal Ethics Chair. She discussed the disciplinary proceedings of the Ethics Commission and standards for burden of proof. She also analyzed several cases from the Commission’s practice.
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2019

01

May

Trainers Ready to Share Knowledge Gained Through USAID/ PROLoG-supported Workshops

In April, more than ten carefully selected Georgian Bar Association (GBA) trainers were trained on three different topics: 1) Protection of Minority rights; 2) Protection of Rights of Religious Minorities; 3) Gender Equality. As a result of these “Training of Trainers” (ToT) workshops, GBA has built a pool of qualified trainers. The topics for the modules were chosen based on a survey of GBA member lawyers. The development of these human rights courses and the training of GBA trainers take place within the framework of USAID/PROLoG’s ongoing support to GBA’s CLE program, which is designed to help GBA’s Training Center strengthen its human rights instruction.
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2019

23

Apr

NGOs Propose Recommendations for Reform of the High School of Justice

On April 18, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) with USAID/PROLoG’s assistance presented research on the Judges’ Professional Training System in Georgia. Mikheil Benidze and Giorgi Kldiashvili, the Chairs of the organizations, as well as Vano Bolkvadze, Director of the High School of School of Justice (HSOJ), and Adam Schmidt, Director of Democracy, Governance and Social Development at USAID Georgia, opened the event. The research provides an overview of the institutional arrangement and programs of the High School of Justice of Georgia (HSoJ) and presents the main challenges related to its work.
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2019

18

Apr

Second Series of Courtroom Communication and Case Management Workshops

USAID/PROLoG, in cooperation with the High School of Justice (HSoJ), successfully finalized a second series of workshops in Courtroom Communication and Case Management for civil law judges, judicial assistants and listeners of HSoJ. Judge Timothy J. Baland conducted the workshops, focusing on different aspects of courtroom communication, such as verbal and non-verbal, as well as ways to better manage the courtroom, including lawyer and party misbehavior.
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2019

16

Apr

GYLA Issues a Comprehensive Analysis of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women Legislation and Practice

On March 28, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) presented its analysis of significant issues of domestic violence and violence against women in the previous two years. This focus assessed progress since the creation of the human rights department with Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), and helped identify areas for further improvement. GYLA implements this project with USAID/PROLoG support.
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2019

12

Apr

USAID/PROLoG Supports Women’s History Month 2019

USAID/PROLoG, in recognition of Women's History Month, together with its partners and legal aid grantees, organized a series of events in March that highlight the contributions and accomplishments of women in history and contemporary society:
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2019

11

Apr

USAID/PROLoG Supports Series of Public Lectures on Women’s Rights

On March 26 and 28, in the framework of Women’s History Month, USAID/PROLoG-supported the Human Rights Chair at Ilia State University School of law hosting of a series of public lectures on women’s rights. On March 26, Professor Bridget Arimond from Northwestern University School of Law, together with Tamar Dekanosidze, Eurasia consultant of NGO “Equality Now,” talked about impunity for Sexual Violence, and discussed the American context and gaps in Georgian legislation related to the crime of rape.
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