With the support of the USAID Rule of Law Program, the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia (PDO) will have a new 2022-2023 Strategic Litigation Action Plan. On July 7-8, 2022, 19 representatives of the PDO participated at a specially conveyed meeting to discuss actions and strategic directions of the new Plan. 

In his welcome notes, Deputy Public Defender Giorgi Burjanadze expressed his gratitude to the Program for its generous support to the PDO and its Strategic Litigation Division. “One of the main mandates of the Division is to take cases to the Constitutional Court. The PDO plans to use this mandate more effectively. The Program’s support will strengthen the Division and improve the ability of its members to see how to resolve cases through the Constitutional Court,” said Giorgi Burjanadze. 

Information on the implementation of the 2021 Strategic Litigation Action Plan and the lawsuits filed was shared by the Head of the PDO’s Strategic Litigation Division, Mikheil Sharashidze. The new plan will respond to the legal flaws identified in the practices of various PDO departments and will include cases related to criminal justice and due process rights, equality, rights of persons with disabilities, child rights, and social, civil, and cultural rights.

At the strategy planning event, the Access to Justice Advisor of the USAID Rule of Law Program, Eka Bokuchava, pointed out that “strengthening strategic litigation in Georgia is one of the main directions of our Program; therefore, it is very important to support the PDO as an institution for whom strategic litigation in the Constitutional Court is a primary goal. We are glad that representatives of various departments are here at this working meeting, where we will talk about legal gaps and issues in their practice. This will allow the PDO to see the existing problems comprehensively and effectively determine its plan for strategic litigation before the Constitutional Court.”

The meeting participants represented the Division of Strategic Litigation, as well as the departments of Criminal Justice; National Preventive Mechanism; Gender Equality; Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Child's Rights; and Protection of Civil, Political, Economic, and Social and Cultural Rights. The participants brainstormed about thematic issues they consider necessary to be reflected in the upcoming action plan. Twenty-five possible thematic issues were identified for inclusion in the plan. Within a month, the Division of Strategic Litigation will analyze the results of the discussion and give final form to it. After the action plan is approved, the PDO will immediately start its implementation and increase use of strategic litigation in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including CSOs.