Georgia
Practice Relating to Rule 100. Fair Trial Guarantees
Under Georgia’s Criminal Code (1999), it is a crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts to “wilfully deprive a prisoner of war or any other protected person of their right to a fair trial”.
Georgia’s Organic Law on Common Law Courts (2009) states:
Equality before the Law and the Court.
1. Justice is administered on the basis of equality before the law of all persons participating in the case.
2. The legal proceedings are conducted on the basis of [e]quality and competition of the parties.
In 2014, in its fourth periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Georgia stated:
Due to Russia’s occupation of Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and Abkhazia[,] Georgia has been prevented from the opportunity to ensure protection of human rights, including children’s rights in th[ose] parts of the country. Serious facts of discriminations and human rights violations have been reported by numerous … reputable international organizations, committed predominantly against population of Georgian origin. People of Georgian ethnicity, including children, have been deprived of fundamental rights, such as … [the] right to [a] fair trial[.]
Georgia’s Code of Criminal Procedure (1998) states that the right of the accused to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal cannot be suspended in situations of emergency.
Georgia’s Organic Law on Common Law Courts (2009) states:
Article 7. Independence of a Judge.
1. A judge is independent in his activities, obeys only the Constitution of Georgia, international treaties, agreements and [the] law. No one has the right to require from a judge a report on [a] concrete case.
…
Article 8. Inadmissibility of Interference with a Court’s Activities.
1. State and local executive bodies, enterprises, social and political associations, officials [and] legal or natural persons are prohibited from violating a court’s independence.
2. Any influence on a judge or interference with his activities for the purpose of affecting decision-making is prohibited and is punishable under … law.