The USAID Rule of Law Program will continue to support courts in enhancing outreach activities and assist them in developing comprehensive court-community engagement plans with the active involvement of judges and court staff. 

On January 28-29, 2023, court staff from Khashuri Regional Court, including three judges, took part in a USAID Rule of Law Program workshop on the court’s Court-Community Engagement Plan.

The Community Engagement Advisor at the USAID Rule of Law Program, Dr. Tim Bunjevac, and the Community Engagement Coordinator, Mariam Gobronidze, delivered a session on court-community engagement practices from around the world.

Dr. Bunjevac revisited topics related to People-Centered Justice in general, which was the main topic of the seminar held with the Khashuri regional Court (KRC) on July 30, 2022, and reminded the participants of its importance and connection to Court-Community Engagement. Dr. Bunjevac and Ms. Gobronidze then ran a workshop that used group exercises to assist the court to identify the Khashuri community's specific legal needs. Afterwards, an interactive discussion focused on identifying the elements of a successful Court-Community Engagement Plan. 

The session concluded with a practical group exercise requiring the court’s judges and staff to develop their own Court-Community Engagement Plan designed to address the identified community needs and increase the court’s engagement with the local community. The plan includes the court’s mission statement, the desired outcomes, and activities to address the identified community needs, as well as the basic resources and stakeholder support that will be needed to implement the proposed activities. The participants proposed a series of community engagement activities that the court would like to implement in the next 24 months, such as open court days, awareness-raising campaigns, partnerships with local schools to hold legal essays competitions and moot courts, round table discussions on improving court translation services, and art exhibitions.

The Chairman of KRC, Judge Mevlud Khatashvili, thanked the Program for its support and reaffirmed the court’s commitment to People-Centered Justice and willingness to work with the Rule of Law Program to finalize and implement the Community Engagement Plan in the near future.

“Each component of the workshop was planned wisely to support our court’s development and enhance its functioning. I will definitely use the information on the importance of court-community engagement in my everyday work and share this knowledge with my fellow staff members.” – Gocha Melikidze, Court Manager at KRC.

The participants invited the Program’s team to visit the court in the coming weeks to finalize the Court-Community Engagement Plan based on the draft outline of the plan that was prepared in the workshop.