Convicts, penitentiary employees to receive public services at their facilities
With the innovation, the procedures will become more accessible, the body said, with convicts of penitentiary facilities previously having to use third persons or engage in written requests with the Hall to receive the services. Photo: Ministry of Justice
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Convicts and employees of penitentiary institutions across Georgia will receive public services at their facilities in a project promoted as a “Georgian innovation” by the Justice Ministry.
The body said on Monday the initiative - which it said had not been tried elsewhere in the world - would be launched at two penitentiary institutions in the city of Rustavi, and see Public Service Hall branches open for both inmates and professionals at the facilities.
They will be offered over 50 services, ranging from obtaining ID documents and certificates to birth registrations, paperwork related to citizenship and divorce.
With the innovation, the procedures will become more accessible, the body said, with convicts of penitentiary facilities previously having to use third persons or engage in written requests with the Hall to receive the services.
Convicts and employees of the Penitentiary Institution No.16 in the city of Rustavi received diplomas for successfully passing an international examination in French language following a course taught by a prisoner, the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia said on Monday.
Convicts and defendants in Georgia will be able to study remotely at authorised universities in the country, the Ministry of Justice announced on Thursday.
Georgia has one of the highest incarceration rates in Europe, show annual statistics on prisons by the Council of Europe.
A bill presented by the Georgian Dream ruling party MPs allows inmates to receive a Master’s degree while in prison as the current law regulates the conditions and procedures only for Bachelor’s degree.“The current law, with the involvement of the Ministry of Education and Justice, offers procedures and conditions only for the Bachelor’s degree for inmates. There are no rules for a Master’s degree,” says the bill.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Monday unveiled a new “small-sized, highest European-standard” penitentiary facility designed for 700 convicts in the western Georgian town of Laituri in Guria region.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Friday told the Parliament the country’s citizens would enjoy simplified international travel checks with chips, instead of holograms, being used for inspecting their passports.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Friday told the Parliament a new agreement with the United States would allow extradition of inmates and convicts from the country to Georgia.
Ongoing reforms in Georgia’s penitentiary system, including efforts aimed at ensuring accessible education and digital university for inmates, were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the country’s Justice Minister Rati Bregadze and heads of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday highlighted the decreasing number of cases filed against conditions in the country’s penitentiary system in the European Court of Human Rights, in his end-of-year report summarising the work of his Government.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Tuesday told Imedi TV the implementation of the new penitentiary code was “one of the great achievements of modern Georgia”.
Georgia’s Justice Ministry has received 10 devices providing electronic control and services of probationers and 50 pieces of monitoring tags for those under house arrest from the United States Embassy.