2019-12-25
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia will have a Division for Juvenile Affairs covering Tbilisi; Ministry of Health of Georgia will develop a concrete plan to address the shortage of social workers; Ministry of Education of Georgia along with the Human Rights Secretariat of the Government Administration of Georgia will create a database of psychologists; Ministry of Justice of Georgia will come up with a legislative proposal on the mandatory engagement of attorneys in cases involving juvenile witnesses. All of these agreements have been reached at the Inter-Agency Work-Group Meeting held today at the Government Administration under the management of Natia Mezvrishvili, Head of Government Administration.
Challenges faced by the public institutions and vision on the solutions to them have been suggested to the Inter-Agency Work-Group Meeting by Deputy Ministers of Internal Affairs, Justice, Health and Education of Georgia.
Individual comments and recommendations have been drawn as a result of discussions, which engaged psychologists, experts, NGOs working on the rights of the child and representatives of the Public Defender (Ombudsman), which served as a basis for defining tier one tasks to be solved in the most efficient manner.
As noted by the Head of Government Administration at the meeting, there are systemic issues, which require to be addressed through a systemic approach and a long-term vision. Nevertheless, it is an aim and goal of the government to attend to the issues of highest significance in the first instance and in the shortest timeframe.
"Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia will have a Division on Juvenile Affairs covering Tbilisi from April 1, 2020. It will employ investigators specialized in juvenile justice and management will also get relevant re-trainings towards this end. Certain infrastructure problems existed, which are addressed by now and we agreed that the Division will be equipped with relevant video surveillance cameras to capture the entire process from the entry of the minor to the exit from the Division. Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia will also come up with a concrete plan on introducing the environment tailored to children in regions - at respective territorial bodies - in a long-run perspective. Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia will also present concrete rules in the form of guidelines for investigators, which will advise the investigators on their behavior while conducting an investigation process with minors. We are having in mind juvenile witnesses, suspects and victims" noted the Head of Government Administration.
Agreement has been reached at the meeting for the Ministry of Education of Georgia to develop a document in the coming days with a detailed description of the process: actions to be taken by a school teacher, social worker, school warden when and if a case occurs; responsibility born by each of them if and when these rules are violated. Document will elaborate on the mechanism of monitoring and response measures as well.
"At the same time, Ministry of Education of Georgia and Human Rights Secretariat of the Government Administration of Georgia will work on the creation of a database of psychologists for children. Staffing is a serious challenge in this field and we hope to solicit the support of NGOs and international organizations" added the Head of Government Administration.
As for the Ministry of Health of Georgia, a plan needs to be submitted at the following Inter-Agency Work-Group Meeting on what needs to be done to address the shortage of social workers.
In addition, mechanisms for the protection of juvenile witnesses will improve. Ministry of Justice of Georgia will develop a legislative initiative, which will envisage a mandatory engagement of an attorney in this process. Referred legislative initiative and its financial costing will be presented by the Ministry of Justice at the upcoming Inter-Agency Work-Group Meeting scheduled for January 10, 2020 at the Government Administration of Georgia.