Saturday, December 20, 2025

New criminal procedure law doesn't work: lawyers

The lawyer's association has found many gaps in the system. "The current Criminal Procedure Code is incompletely regulated and the court practice is not properly developed in this respect,” says its leader Zaza Khatiashvili.

TBILISI, DFWatch – It is one of Georgia’s most touted reforms abroad, but now lawyers who have experienced it in practice warn that the overhauled Criminal Procedure Code of 2010 isn’t working.

The reform saw deep involvement by top legal expertise from

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Kremlin favorite withdraws from South Ossetian election

South Ossetian opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva is adamant that she will be inaugurated as president on Friday, her second attempt. Authorities under leadership of acting president Vadim Brovtsev want to hold an entirely new election in March, but the two top candidates refuse to participate.

TBILISI, DFWatch – The situation in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia is getting more complicated as both top candidates refuse to take part in a rescheduled election on March 25.

Kremlin favorite Anatoly Bibilov says he refrains from taking part

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Journalist's home shot at in Tbilisi

Khatuna Paichadze says she believes the attack was related to her work at weekly newspaper Kviris Palitra, where she has been writing sharp investigative reports for the last two weeks. Kviris Palitra has been at odds with Georgian authorities over the last year over their coverage of the police action May 26 last year and is currently subject to a vaguely defined audit by tax authorities. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – A shot was fired at a journalist’s house in the Georgian capital Monday. No-one was injured.

The journalist Khatuna Paichadze was at work when the shot rang out at around 14:00 local time. The bullet broke a window in her first floor flat in an Italian yard

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Georgian youth learn English, and keep their Russian too

“I think it would be good if I knew Russian. But if I don’t know Russian I won’t have any serious problems,” says Lali, Master's student in journalism at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – English is first priority for Georgian youth, but they might as well keep a basic knowledge of Russian too, just in case.

Margo is getting ready to go abroad for a year through an exchange program, after graduating from university last summer, specializing in journalism.

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Georgia's dead prime minister: The case that won't go away

Zurab Zhvania was at the head of the rose revolution in 2003 alongside Mikheil Saakashvili and Nino Burjanadze, then became prime minister, but died just over a year later under mysterious circumstances. The case files from the investigation have not been released. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Seven years after his death, the anniversary of Georgia’s late prime minister Zurab Zhvania is still testimony to the fact that many refuse to accept the case as closed.

Some of the youth who gathered in front of parliament in Tbilisi Friday bore

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