Georgia: The working group of the Legal Affairs Committee, which works on anti-corruption measures within the framework of fulfilling the 12 conditions defined by the European Union, held its first session in an extended format.
According to Anri Okhanashvili, the chairman of the committee and the head of the working group, several issues were identified at the session, which the group will work on.
According to him, these issues are: prevention-oriented anti-corruption direction, rapid response in case of detection of corruption and, where necessary, revision of specific criminal law compositions and sanctions. The third issue raised by the civil society representative is the creation of an independent anti-corruption agency.
“Subjects participating in the process had the opportunity to talk about important issues for them. From our side, we raised issues related to additional strengthening of work for the prevention of corruption and coordination between agencies. We asked the representatives of various agencies to submit proposals in which direction they may face danger and in which direction they are hampered in terms of specific work. Along with prevention, our aim is to further tighten criminal justice policy where necessary. The representative of the civil society raised the issue of the separation of a separate anti-corruption agency. The next meeting of the group will be held in the near future, where the mentioned issues will be discussed. It should be noted that Georgia has made great progress in terms of anti-corruption. In terms of the Corruption Perception Index, Georgia ranks 45th among 145 states and ranks first in Eastern Europe, which means that the fight against corruption is a priority direction for our country. In this regard, a number of steps have been taken, and we continue to work for further institutional strengthening”, said Anri Okhanashvili.
Members of the working group are: members of the “Georgian Dream” faction and individual opposition groups, as well as representatives of the government administration, the prosecutor’s office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Justice, the State Audit Service and civil society (the Georgian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum).
According to the plan, the bill should be initiated no later than October 19, 2022, and adopted no later than December 1, 2022.
