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Summary: General overview of Georgia's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law Constitution: Chapter II of the Georgian Constitution contains a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, though the Constitution contains only one provision that makes explicit reference to children: Legislation: There is no comprehensive Children's Act or Code in Georgian law. Rather, provisions of particular relevance to children can be found throughout a number of Codes and Laws including, but by no means limited to: Legal Research: Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis The Committee also raised concerns over the insufficient legal guarantees to ensure that child victims of trafficking are not penalised by the justice system. As such, the Committee recommended that the State develop an effective monitoring mechanism, promote effective investigations, and prosecute and punish those who commit offences related to child trafficking. The Committee also urged the State to establish bilateral and subregional agreements to help combat international trafficking. With regards to adolescent health, the Committee expressed concern that children under the age of 16 seeking the advice or treatment of doctors were required to be accompanied by an adult and urged the State to ensure that these children have access to free and confidential medical counsel and assistance without parental consent. Current legal reform projects
Article 6 of the Constitution of Georgia provides that ratified international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, take precedence over domestic legislation so long as they do not conflict with the Constitution or the Constitutional Arrangement. Article 6 of the Law on International treaties further provides that “an international treaty to which Georgia is a party, forms an inseparable part of Georgian legislation”. As such, the CRC could in theory be enforced in national courts, although it not clear whether this has occurred.
The Parliament of Georgia (sakartvelos parlament'i) maintains an official website that offers limited information in English and a database of legislation in Georgian (http://www.parliament.ge/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=34&lang=en). The World Law Guide provides a selection of Georgian legislation in English (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwegeo.htm), and the International Labour Organisation's NATLEX database provides a selection of legislation in Georgian and English (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=GEO). In addition, the GlobaLex project at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Georgia (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Georgia1.htm), and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/ge/) and the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/georgia.php) both provide selections of links to relevant legal and governmental resources.
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia maintains a database of its case law in Georgian and English (http://www.constcourt.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=74), and the Supreme Court publishes its decisions in Georgian (http://www.supremecourt.ge/court-decisions/) and certain news and legal information in English.
In its 2008 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed legal reforms in Georgia, including in relation to domestic violence and adoption, but nevertheless raised concerns that substantial areas of national law contained inconsistencies with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child raised a number of more specific concerns about national laws, particularly about the pervasive failings of the juvenile justice system. The Committee noted the increasing number of children entering the criminal justice system and the expanding use of custodial sentences for those children. The Committee also criticised the lack of juvenile courts, community-based programmes and other alternative measures to detention. In response to Georgia's reduction of the the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12, the Committee urged the State to reinstate the previous minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) as a matter of urgency and to further raise the age to contribute to the development of the juvenile justice system. The State has since reinstated the MACR to 14 years.
As of June 2008, the Law on Refugees' Issues was being revised and the State also indicated that it was in the process of reforming its juvenile justice system.