The Winter School of Justice concluded its work on 9 March 2018 by awarding five most successful participants. The Winter School was held on 24-28 February in Borjomi, Georgia and aimed at providing theoretical knowledge and practical skills to judicial assistants, representatives of court analytical units, and graduating Law School students. Sessions covered the issues on judicial ethics, discrimination, mediation and juvenile justice. Special emphases were made on the significance of the human rights based approach in the civil servants’ daily work.
The participants were selected by a specially established Commission that ensured diversity through the regional representation. The final positive assessment of the course creates solid grounds for a sustainable continuation of this program by the Georgian Judiciary.
The Winter School of Justice was organised under the auspices of the High Council of Justice and the Supreme Court of Georgia. Organisational and financial supports were provided by the EU4Justice project, USAID/PROLoG project “Promoting Rule of Law in Georgia”, UNICEF, UNDP and UNHCHR in the scope of EU/UN joint programmes.
Chief Justice Gvenetadze highlighted overall positive assessment of the Winter School despite its rather complex nature and expressed hope for its further continuation. High Council of Justice Secretary Miqautadze stressed the role judicial assistants serve in achieving quality justice, alongside with the judges and extended gratitude to the Winter School donors for implementing this program. Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Cristian Urse congratulated participants for the successful accomplishment of the demanding program that, among other, tested their time-management skills, team-work capacity and self-discipline. Two participants will have the opportunity of a study visit to Strasbourg, where they will get familiarized with the work of the European Court of Human Rights and other specific bodies of the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe support for this activity was extended within the framework of the Project “Support to the Judicial Reform in Georgia”, 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.
