On 13 October 2017 in Tbilisi, the trainers of the High School of Justice of Georgia participated in a training needs assessment workshop on International Humanitarian Law, facilitated by international and national consultants, Ms Marela Jevtovic and Ms Tamar Tomashvili. The objective of the workshop was to prepare a training module for judges on International Humanitarian Law to be included in the High School of Justice curricula for the continuous training.

The workshop participants - judges from the Zugdidi District Court, Gori District Court and the Tbilisi Court of Appeals, together with the representatives of the High School of Justice – discussed cases related to occupied territories of Georgia and difficulties associated with the review of such cases, their elements in the country’s realities in view of the potential establishment of the related court practice.

As one of the attending judges, Mr Nikoloz Marsagishvili pointed out, ‘Judges are not familiar with many aspects related to conduct during armed conflicts, like grounds for detention of combatants and non-combatants, or obligations of occupying and occupied parties. The module can help judges, especially those working close to occupied territories, to better understand these issues and apply the knowledge in their practice when required.

As a result of the needs assessment workshop, the scope and the preliminary structure of the future training module and Training of Trainers were determined.

The activity was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the capacity of the High School of Justice of Georgia”. This Project is funded by voluntary contributions of Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, The Slovak Republic and Sweden to support the implementation of the Council of Europe Action plan for Georgia 2016-2019.