Judiciary & legal system Archives - Fellows eapcivilsociety.eu

Protection of Child Victims Rights in Georgia

Fellowship Summary: Researching, drafting, and promoting a policy document and roadmap for stakeholders engaged in protection of the rights of child victims in Georgia.

Lado Javakhishvili is a lawyer by training and has spent nearly 10 years in public service working within the Georgian justice system. Up until the end of 2021 Lado served as the Deputy Director at the National Agency for Crime Prevention, under the Ministry of Justice, but with a growing desire to contribute to restorative justice and support of juvenile justice beyond the political constraints of working for government, Lado moved his career into civil society. He founded the Institute for Democracy and Justice in Tbilisi and launched his civic activism with a Fellowship project focused on the protection of the rights of children who are victims of crime.

“Juveniles are some of the most vulnerable of citizens when they become the victims of crime and in Georgia, although there is some State provision for services for juveniles who commit crimes, for juvenile victims there is almost nothing. So, I wanted to use my fellowship to raise awareness to this issue.”

During 2022 Lado has researched and developed a policy document and roadmap to help steer stakeholders responsible for the protection of rights of child victims in Georgia. As part of the research Lado looked at good practices in other countries and as a benefit of the Fellowship was able to participate in an international conference in Italy on ‘Justice Beyond the Borders’ organized by European Forum for Restorative Justice.

“Participating in the conference was probably the most satisfying and enjoyable part of my fellowship, as like so many others, it was my first chance since the Covid pandemic to actually sit down face-to-face with my peers to learn and share ideas. There was one particular session, led by a legal professional from Brazil, which I found truly inspirational.”

In addition to the policy paper, Lado has successfully led an awareness-raising campaign, using a series of digital posters on social media to highlight the plight of juvenile victims of crime and promote the need to protect their rights. “I expect the future beneficiaries of my fellowship will be the 1000 or so juveniles who are victims of crime in Georgia every year”.

Lado has not only kick-started his civic activism through his Fellowship, but it has also facilitated him to extend his networking, with an additional role as an Observer to the EaP Civil Society Forum in Prague at the end of 2022.

“This is a great opportunity and I know that when I look back on my civic advocacy I’ll see that it all started with the Fellowship.”

Country	Georgia
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Team

Semi-automated System for Gathering Deficiencies in Police Investigations of Attacks on Civil Society

Maksym’s action aimed at defining the most problematic stages of police actions during the investigation of crimes against civil society in Ukraine, creating a tool gathering deficiencies in police investigations, and teaching activists how to deal with/respond to police inaction. To achieve the above objectives, Maksym established cooperation with the leading national human rights organization – Center for Civil Liberties and started data collection from the Ukrainian civil society activists, human rights defenders, and journalist persecuted for their professional activities between 2017-2019 and whose cases were either not investigated or not adequately investigated by the police. In the second stage of the project, Maksym engaged the legal experts and IT engineers to create a Telegram chatbot FightBack combining the function of a legal self-help instrument and a practical guide for those who face an attack or police inaction. Finally, the project team organized the online presentation of the bot at the premises of the Ukraine Crisis Media Center attended by the civil society representatives, lawyers, journalists, and other stakeholders.

The project raised the issue of police inaction and the necessity of reforming the law enforcement system in Ukraine. Applying the data from the first-hand sources, it delivered a bilingual publication on the deficiencies and malpractices of police investigations; the research document has been distributed among the authorities and will be used for future advocacy campaigns in Ukraine. Most importantly, the project team created a FightBack chatbot to raise awareness of the potential victims, i.e teaching them how to preserve evidence, or fill the complaints. Last but not least, the action has facilitated contacts between activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists from different regions of Ukraine that will accelerate the implementation of future nationwide human rights projects.

Telegram chatbot FightBack is accessible here.

Report “Shortcomings in the law enforcement system of Ukraine exemplified by the investigation of attacks on civil activists”

Report in Ukrainian: “Недоліки правоохоронної системи України на прикладі розслідування нападів на громадських активістів”

Project in media:

Presentation of the Chatbot in English

Presentation of the Chatbot in Ukrainian

Country	Ukraine
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Enhanced Engagement of Civil Society in Monitoring of Implementation of the UN CEDAW in Ukraine

Leila’s action aimed to enhance the engagement of civil society in monitoring the implementation of the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN CEDAW) and recommendations of the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). To ensure the holistic approach to the CSO involvement in CEDAW implementation, the project covered the following aspects: Alternative reporting and individual complaints procedures (elaboration on the joint alternative report to CEDAW in collaboration with the UN Women and the NGO Monitoring Group) & educational and community outreach activities. To deliver high-quality online training on gender and human rights, Leila engaged international experts and field-professionals. Also, to inform the larger audience about the application procedure and criteria of the individual complaints to the UN Women’s Rights Committee, she developed a short educational video in Ukrainian and disseminated it throughout the country.

The project delivered 6 webinars and raised awareness and advocacy capacity of more than 130 non-governmental representatives from Ukraine, Eastern Partnership and other Eastern European and Central Asian Countries on Women’s Rights and UN CEDAW. Also, the action engaged civil society activists and international experts from Denmark, Romania, Moldova, Russia and Kyrgyzstan contributing to the development of the recommendations. In the long term, the project beneficiaries are equipped with the necessary skills to strengthen their advocacy for women’s rights by applying the UN human rights instruments, more precisely the UN CEDAW Optional Protocol. The project delivered the Joint Alternative Report to CEDAW, educational video and informational package that serves as the instrument and direction for better protection of women who are victims of gender-based discrimination.

Video on how to apply with individual complaints to UN CEDAW (in Ukrainian – “Як звернутися в Комітет CEDAW”):

Country	Ukraine
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Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia

The action: Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia aimed to monitor the implementation of the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan (2020-2022). The project engaged local authorities, public officials, lawyers, young activists, civil society representatives, and watchdog organizations. At the beginning of the project, Syuzanna researched the Swedish and Georgian experience in CSO engagement in policy making and effective monitoring of policy implementation. Then, she organized 4 awareness-raising workshops for the public officials from state and local government bodies, lawyers, CSOs and other interested stakeholders from 3 regions and Yerevan. The seminars were followed by the national youth conference: The RA National Strategy on Human Rights Protection: Challenges and Perspectives engaging young professionals in discourse. Afterwards, Syuzanna conducted online in-depth interviews and focus groups with the field experts to identify the possible gaps in the strategy and produce the monitoring report. Finally, she organized the CSO-Government Dialogue Conference to discuss the report findings and proposed amendments in the National Strategy.

The project delivered the evidence-based monitoring report and recommendations to the Republic of Armenia tailored to the National Strategy and Human Rights protection. The research ensured the accountability of the RA Government and the Ministry of Justice in the sector of human rights. The final conference facilitated the Public-State consensus on the various issues, including the necessity to amend the RA National Strategy. The majority of the recommendations were taken into account by the Government and the process to amend the National Strategy was about to start as of the end of the Fellowship.

The seminars and workshops raised awareness of 157 young professionals from the civic and legal sectors. Then, the youth conference engaged 21 researchers, out of whom 11 produced a research paper on the National Strategy. The events engaged the high-level officials, including the Human Rights Defender and Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia, and the EU-Delegation representatives to Armenia.

Evidence-based Monitoring of the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022

Project in media:

Country	Armenia
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Developing the national potential in re-socialization of justice-involved children

The project aimed to research the best practices, methods, and tools to help delinquent children in re-socializing and provide guidelines to the involved stakeholders, including the teachers, psychologists, officers from the National Inspectorate of Probation, police officers and volunteers. To achieve the latter objective, Corneliu did comprehensive and interdisciplinary research of the most effective ways of re-socializing justice-involved children. To explore the best practices, Corneliu undertook three study visits in Romania, Czech Republic, and Germany. During these visits at the Buzias Educational Center, Czech Probationa and Mediation Service, IRZ, Bruke, Don Basco Youth Center, Youth Detention Centre in Dusseldorf, he held discussions with more than 40 field experts. The interviews and in-depth discussions played a crucial role in developing a final publication offering the best role-models targeted on the Moldovan Justice system.

The project produced a research publication introducing international practices on general incentives and mitigation measures of delinquent acts. The book is a guide for the policemen, probation officers, psychologists, pedagogues, and social workers to help juveniles involved in criminal activity. Corneliu published 800 copies of the book and distributed it among the education directorates, policemen, and probation officers across the country. Thus, the guidelines were also shared with the Youth Centers in Chisinau and Social Assistants from Chisinau and Criuleni. Overall, he covered six Moldovan cities, including Chisinau, Balti, Cahul, Gagauzia, Criuleni, Hîncești.

Research paper ‘Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Guidelines (in Russian)’:

Country	Moldova
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Introduction of the institute of beneficial ownership in Armenia

The project aimed to combat corruption in Armenia and foster free economic competition through research, constructive dialogue, and awareness-raising training. In the beginning, Mariam organized the workshops on Introduction of the Institute of Beneficial Ownership in the Republic of Armenia in the five Armenian cities of Yerevan, Vanadzor, Gyumri, Gavar, and Kapan. Then, Mariam held a roundtable discussion in a public-private dialogue format to discuss the possibility of the introduction of the concept in the RA anti-corruption strategy. Finally, based on the international best practices, Mariam developed policy recommendations. In addition, Mariam carried out social media campaigns in the frames of which she produced awareness-raising publications. To enhance her skills and exchange ideas on the anti-corruption lobby, she participated in the 5th Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Tbilisi and did a study tour at the various anti-corruption institutions in the United Kingdom, as well as at the Centre for Policies and Reforms of Moldova.

Through the interactive seminars, the action raised awareness on the concept of Beneficial Ownership and improved the knowledge and understanding of 80 young lawyers, civil society and business representatives throughout Armenia. The latter was followed by a roundtable discussion in the Public-Private Dialogue format, engaging more than 100 participants from governmental bodies, international organizations, business, civil society organizations, youth associations, and media outlets. Due to the advocacy efforts during the discussion and under the project, in general, the introduction of the beneficial ownership registry has been enshrined in the RA Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2019-2022. The campaign and publications served as a tool to reach a wider audience and inform them about the anti-corruption measures. In addition, the social advertising video Together against Corruption prepared within the Action was selected among the best three works of the International Youth Competition organised among the 6 member states of the CIS. In this regard, Mariam was awarded a medal by the RA Prosecutor General for her endeavours and commitments towards fighting against corruption. Thus, the action built capacity for Mariam herself, as she was given the opportunity to advance her skills through the field visits in London, Chisinau, and Tbilisi.

Project in media:

Ինչու՞ է անհրաժեշտ բացահայտել ընկերությունների իրական սեփականատերերին

Ովքե՞ր են ընկերությունների իրական սեփականատերերը

Իրավաբանների հայկական ասոցիացիայի անդամ Մարիամ Զադոյանը՝ մրցանակակիր

Country	Armenia
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Enhancing Ethical Standards in the Legal Profession

The project aimed to raise awareness about deontology and the importance of ethical standards in the legal system of Moldova. To do so, Olga selected four target groups (high school students, law students, lawyers and lawyers’ trainees, and senior legal professionals) and organized three meetings for each audience. The workshops for high school students delivered vocational orientation training and included the simulation of a court trial. Then, the training for law students was held in Chișinău, Bălți, and Cahul and addressed the issues of professional and personal development. The seminars for lawyers and lawyer trainees were tailored to discussing different aspects of professional ethics including conflicts of interests, independence, lawyer-client and lawyer-lawyer relations, and confidentiality. The well-known lawyers in the country were invited to speak about their experiences, successes, and failures in the profession. Finally, the joint events for lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and other legal professionals brought senior professionals in a friendly atmosphere to share their perspectives about the ethical norms in the legal system. Following this, Olga organized a joint meeting for the European Young Bar Association, Moldovan Young Lawyers Association and representatives of the European Association of Lawyers.

The project delivered 12 workshops for different audiences interested or involved in the legal system. Within the framework of the action, 150 high school students raised awareness about professional ethics in the legal system. Also, 100 law students in three major cities of Moldova became more aware of professional standards and personal development. Besides, 100 lawyers and lawyer trainees discussed different aspects of professional ethics. Via the salon meetings, 50 senior legal professionals shared their viewpoints concerning the issues of ethics in law. In general, the above activities promoted ethical standards in the legal profession to enhance trust in the system of Justice in the eyes of the public and guarantee the protection of human rights. Therefore, the action enhanced international collaboration among representatives of the European Young Bar Association, Moldovan Young Lawyers Association, and the European Association of Lawyers.

Country	Moldova
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Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters / Cross-Border Insolvency)

The project studied the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement from the perspective of Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Justice and Cross-Border Insolvency. The project was divided into two parts. In the first phase of the fellowship, Vitalii analyzed legislative acts regarding private international law (PIL) in Ukraine and the European Union. Then, he compared the legislation and explored changes in different areas, such as jurisdiction and choice of law over consumer and individual employment contracts, the establishment of non-state law, determination of the law applicable, “Avoidance of the Law” and overriding mandatory rules as restrictions for the law applicable to a contract. In the second phase of the project, he studied the Insolvency Recast Regulation of the European Union. In parallel, he researched Ukrainian legal acts focusing on the areas of bankruptcy procedures, the appointment of the main insolvency practitioner and synthetic secondary insolvency in Ukrainian realities.

The project produced two academic documents. The first paper explores the potentials of the Ukrainian legal system and its harmonization towards the European legislation, in particular, in the private international law and cross-border insolvency law. The second document provides throughout research and analysis of private international law and insolvency legislation in Ukraine and the European Union. As the research deliverable, Vitalii created concrete proposals on harmonizing the European Law in these two areas. Additionally, he reviewed the compliance of Ukrainian rules with the Recast Insolvency Regulation of the European Union. Due to the vague Ukrainian bankruptcy legislation, foreign investors tend to be skeptical about the security of their assets. The research also explored the above issue and produced relevant expertise.

Research paper ‘The implementation of Association Agreement: adaptation of Ukrainian laws to EU legislation (judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters: contractual obligations)’:

Research paper ‘The implementation of Association Agreement: adaptation of Ukrainian laws to EU legislation (judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters: cross-border insolvency)’:

Country	Ukraine
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