The official opening of the National Championship of Imitation Judges was held at the Association of Georgian Lawyers. The championship aims to raise awareness about the judging court and deepen students’ process skills.
It is being hosted by the Bar Association, the Embassy of the United States, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and the Supreme Court.
The attorney general of Georgia, Irakli Shotadze; Chairman of the Bar Association, David Asatiani; the Ambassador of the United States to Georgia – Robin Danigan; and Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Nino Kadagidze.
Irakli Shotadze said, “The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has taken several steps in recent years to strengthen the resources of the prosecutor’s office and prosecutors, as the number of cases being tried by judges grows yearly.”
He also said, “It is for this purpose that we have created a specialized department in the Prosecutor’s Office, and with the support of the United States Embassy and the Department of Justice, we are very actively training our prosecutors so that as many prosecutors as possible have the necessary skills to effectively prosecute state charges within the framework of a jury trial.”
The National Championship of Imitating Judges will be held in November-December, and students from 12 universities will participate. The project includes both in-university drills and mock trials for the teams and semifinals and final competitions.
For the project, each university will present two defence and prosecution teams and NAF judges, comprising 12 students from other faculties.
Qualified facilitators will train the Teams participating in the competition for simulated processes. Based on their evaluation, the four best teams (from two regions and two from Tbilisi) will move to the final stage.
The final stage will be held in the Supreme Court of Georgia, which a jury of current judges, prosecutors and lawyers will evaluate. For the final imitation trial, the finalists will be trained by the trainers of the Bar Association and the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.
The National Championship of Imitation Court of Judges is being held in a pilot format for the first time in Georgia. In the future, the championship is planned to be held annually.
