Georgia

In 2022, the hate crime provisions in the Georgian Criminal Code were amended.

On 5 September 2022, the Georgian government approved its second National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights, covering the period of 2022 to 2030. The Strategy was adopted by Parliament on 23 March 2023. The Strategy includes a chapter on promoting equality and protecting minority rights. The existing Inter-Agency Human Rights Council chaired by the Prime Minister serves as the national mechanism for effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting on human rights. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are involved in the process.

In 2022, with the expert support of UN Women, a six-year gender equality strategy (2022-2027) and a three-year gender equality action plan (2022-2024) were approved.

In 2022, a manual for prosecutors on the "Principles of investigating hate crimes according to international standards" was published with the support of the Council of Europe. The manual reviews the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and analyses judgments and trends. 

In the reporting period, employees of the Prosecutor's Office completed a specialized training course on hate crime. As a result of the course, 18 prosecutors and three investigators of the Prosecutor's Office underwent retraining.

In 2022, a number of training activities were implemented with the support of international organizations. Community police officers took part in training activities as part of a project on "Promoting the Effective Protection of Equality and Non-Discrimination in Georgia" with the support of the Council of Europe. The training sessions were devoted to legal proceedings in bias-motivated incidents. As part of the project, a training for the heads of police units was held. 

An Action Plan for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities was approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and implemented with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Network of Centers for Civic Engagement (NCCE). As part of the plan, employees of the Patrol Police Department were trained on the rights of persons with disabilities and relevant standards of communication. In addition, a training course on access to justice for women with disabilities was organized for law enforcement officers with the support of UN Women.

Also in 2022, a training session on the "Legal regulation of issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and the needs of LGBTQI+ people" was held for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the support of the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality and the Women's Initiatives Support Group (WISG).

A training activity on hate crimes was also organized by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA). Within the framework of this cooperation, two employees of the Prosecutor's Office undertook a study visit to Budapest, Hungary, where they attended a course on hate crimes.

With the support of the Council of Europe, an in-depth training course was held for prosecutors specializing in hate crime, focusing on the "Practical aspects of effective procedural supervision of investigation and prosecution".

In addition, a hybrid two-and-a-half-month training course was implemented under the Council of Europe project on "Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries" (in line with General Policy Recommendation No. 15 of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance).

With the support of the Council of Europe, a training activity was provided to officials of the Tbilisi City Court, including assistant judges, court secretaries and registry working directly on discrimination and hate crime cases and responsible for recording and transferring information on bias motivation in court files.

In July 2022, Pride Week was organized by civil society organization "Tbilisi Pride" and their supporters. Preparatory work started in advance, and the organizers of the week were in communication with the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs throughout the process. As a result, all events were held as planned.

A series of awareness-raising events and meetings was attended by the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia as part of the Council of Europe's public campaign titled "I choose equality".