The presentation of 2019-2022 Strategic Development Plan of the Georgian Bar Association (GBA) was held on 20 November, involving lawyers, members of Parliament, the Ministry of Justice, common courts, NGO and donor organisation representatives. This Plan combined the results of the strategy drafting workshop and needs assessment analysis, including both qualitative data and focus groups held with NGOs, members of Georgian Bar Association, the Association of Law Firms of Georgia, and public sector representatives. The Strategic Development Plan will enhance the transparent functioning of the GBA, contribute to the improvement of the quality of legal education, and strengthen lawyers’ ethical conduct.

Davit Asatiani, President of the Georgian Bar Association, Cristian Urse, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Peter Danis, Manager of “Justice for All Programme” of the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, and Rusudan Tushuri, Program Co-ordinator at the United Nations Development Program in Georgia, opened the conference.

The joint activity was supported by the UNDP/EU Access to Justice Project and the Council of Europe project “Support to the Judicial Reform in Georgia” funded by the 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.