On 26-27 October 2021 and 7-8 December 2021, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia organised trainings for the representatives of the courts on data collection on discrimination, hate crimes and hate speech according to the European standards.

In 2021 in total 77 judicial assistants undertook the training on the importance of data collection on hate crimes. The trainings were attended by the court assistants from Tbilisi and the regions of Georgia. The training module covered topics such as international standards and Georgia’s commitment regarding the investigation of hate crimes and data collection; the main definitions; the scope of the negative and positive obligation of the state based on the example of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the main indicators of discrimination. Participants also tested their theoretical knowledge during the practical work moderated by the Council of Europe expert.

Since September 2018, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, in the framework of the co-operation project “Fight against discrimination, hate crimes and hate speech in Georgia” has been assisting stakeholders to improve hate crime data collection methodology. As a result of an inclusive process, recommendations regarding the new data collection methodology, specific guidelines and data collection templates on hate crime, discrimination and hate speech in line with ECRI recommendations and current needs were developed. In 2020 the memorandum on cooperation on the collection of data on hate crime was signed between the Supreme Court, the Office of the General Prosecutor, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the National Statistics Office of Georgia. Various trainings and working meetings were organised by the Council of Europe to support the process.

This activity is supported by the Council of Europe co-operation Project “Fight against Discrimination, Hate Crimes and Hate Speech in Georgia”. The project is implemented under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 with the support of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme in Georgia (DANEP).