The Project on “Strengthening the Capacity of the High School of Justice of Georgia” was launched on 1 November 2016 at the House of Justice in Tbilisi. The Project’s objective is to strengthen the School’s capacity to organise and deliver high quality trainings for judges and court staff.  The Opening was attended by over 80 participants. These included the High Council of Justice members, judges, prosecutors, representatives of donor organisations, civil society and media.

The Chairman of the School’s Independent Board, Mr Valeri Tsertsvadze, thanked the Council of Europe for the cooperation designed in close consultations and based on Georgian judiciary’s needs and expressed commitment to a successful implementation of the Project. The Chief Justice, Ms Nino Gvenetadze, outlined the importance of working hand in hand on the judicial strategy to ensure full compliance with the Council of Europe standards in the field of judicial training. These statements were echoed by the Council of Europe representatives’ acknowledgments to continue close cooperation with the School, building the activities upon the Council of Europe monitoring and standard-setting bodies’ recommendations.

The School’s Director, Mr Lasha Magharadze, presented the Project’s objectives and planned activities to the audience. Responding to one of immediate priorities, the Project organized a key note speaker presentation on the experience of the Estonian Supreme Court in court practice analysis, as one of tools used in the training needs assessment. The presentation elicited an active discussion on an optimum model for the Georgian judiciary.

The Opening was followed by the first meeting of the Steering Committee, which approved its terms of reference and the six month activities plan of the Project.

The Project will last for 18 months and is funded by voluntary contributions of Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Norway, Slovakia and Sweden to support the implementation of the Council of Europe Action plan for Georgia 2016-2019.