08.20.2007

On May 4–6, 2007, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative organized a retreat in Bakuriani for the Ethics Commission of the Georgian Bar Association (GBA) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of the retreat was to draft amendments to the Code of Ethics for Advocates, the Code of Disciplinary Procedure, the Law of Georgia on Advocates, and the GBA Charter. The amendments drafted are related to the activities of the Ethics Commission as well as the disciplinary responsibility of advocates. During one year of its practice, the Ethics Commission identified a number of deficiencies in the codes and the need for change both in these codes and also in the Law of Georgia on Advocates and the GBA Charter.

“The retreat has been a great success” GBA Ethics Commission Chairman Eka Beselia said. “With the great support and valuable expertise by the Rule of Law Initiative’s Legal Specialist Judge John Brown and Country Director Donna Wright, we have been able to draft amendments which will enable the Ethics Commission to work more efficiently and make an enormous step forward towards compliance with international standards” she added.

Based on the request of the Ethics Commission members, the Rule of Law Initiative Georgia legal specialist and staff will continue to provide expertise to the commission to further improve the draft amendments and present them for adoption to the General Assembly tentatively scheduled for fall 2007 and to the Parliament of Georgia. In addition, the Initiative’s Research and Program Development Office in Washington D.C. will conduct an assessment of the above mentioned documents and amendments by July 2007. The results and recommendations of the assessment will be considered by the Ethics Commission and incorporated in the amendments.