The first meeting of the Children’s Rights Practice Group, consisting of Georgian civil and administrative law judges, was held with the support of the USAID Rule of Law Program.  

The meeting provided an opportunity for 44 practice group members to exchange their experiences on children’s rights cases, identify key issues faced in their practice, and brainstorm how those issues could be resolved within the current legal framework.

United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly C. Degnan addressed the judges by stating: “I am so honored to be here, and impressed to see so many of you who have volunteered on this beautiful Saturday, to come and focus on this very important issue. As a lawyer myself, I really have tremendous respect for the profession, and particularly for judges, because of the huge responsibility that judges carry as the guardians of Constitution, the guardians of our democratic processes. The only way that any nation can maintain its democracy is if individual judges have all the tools and the training required to uphold the rule of law. We all know that the very legitimacy of a court depends on the ability of qualified judges to make reasoned, independent decisions based on evidence presented.”

The event was facilitated by the Judicial Reform Advisor of the USAID Rule of Law Program, Inga Todria.Judges from Kutaisi City Court (Mickheil Bebiashvili), Tbilisi Court of Appeals (Shota Getsadze, Nana Daraselia), Tbilisi City Court (David Tsereteli, Manana Meskhishvili and Tamar Lakerbaia) and the Supreme Court of Georgia (Ekaterine Gasitashvili, Zurab Dzlierishvili and Nino Bakakuri) also led the presentations.

The sessions were moderated by judges Diana Berekashvili (Tbilisi Court of Appeals), Badri Niparishvili (Tetritskaro Regional Court), Vladimer Khuchua, (Tetritskharo Regional Court), Tamar Zambakhidze (Supreme Court) and Manana Meskhishvili (Tbilisi City Court).

Working in  five small groups helped all of the judges to agree on some common problems they faced in the courtrooms. Specifically, they identified the need for more qualified legal counsel for children and greater involvement of the Social Service Agency in legal proceedings as being among the key challenges in cases involving children.

In addition, the participants pointed out that there is a need for more unified court practices, because the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code on the Rights of the Child do not provide sufficient regulation in this area. The participants proceeded to draft a guiding document outlining a list of challenges and possible ways to address them, which will inform the practice group’s future meetings and activities. 

Khashuri Regional Court Chair Mevlud Khatashvili, Judge Davit Tsereteli from Tbilisi City Court and Judge Diana Berekashvili from Tbilisi Court of Appeals, who just returned from Judicial Study Tour in Washington D.C. and Oregon, also shared their experiences and knowledge about the US court practices on hearing children’s rights-related cases.