Activity Details (ID# 5825)

Activity Synopsis

The general objective of the training seminar was to present to the judges and the prosecutors from the regions of Georgia the general principles developed by the European Court of Human Rights concerning Article 10 of the ECHR and its application as regards defamation, insults, criticism of public figures, privacy, access to information, protection of journalists’ sources and state secrecy.

The specific objective of the seminar was to examine and discuss two case studies directly related to the explained themes. The cases had been prepared by the CoE experts, namely Ms Ingrid Blaauw, judge in the Netherlands, and Ms Anine Kierulf, practising lawyer in Norway.
 

The seminar was well prepared. A booklet on the case law concerning Article 10 of the ECHR translated into Georgian and a collection of reccomendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning the media field translated in Georgian were distributed to the participants among other information documents.

The participants were judges from the regions and prosecutors coming mostly from Tbilisi. They were interested in the themes presented by the CoE experts since their knowledge of the ECHR case law was limited. They were particularly interested in questions related to defamation of public figures and judges.

During the discussions, it was pointed out that access to information, especially in relation with judicial proceedings, is too vaguely regulated under Georgian law. During the practical cases, there was a very lively exchange of points of view. The judges showed a fairly good understanding of the criteria applied by the European Court of Human Rights.
 

At the end of the seminar, an evaluation questionnaire was distributed to the participants. According to the replies, most participants answered that the seminar had corresponded to their professional need and the overall level of the seminar was high. They also suggested that a Georgian expert should be invited along with international ones. 

Judges and Prosecutors

 

Ms Ingrid Blaauw, judge (the Netherlands)
Ms Anine Kierulf, attorney-at-law (Norway)
 

Alessia SONAGLIONI, Media Division, Directorate General of Human Rights