On 8 November the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, together with the Georgian Bar Association (GBA), organised a conference for lawyers “Application of European Convention on Human Rights at Domestic Level”. In 2018, the GBA, with the support of the Council of Europe, launched an important and useful initiative that entails the organization of the conference of lawyers on November 8th which is dedicated to challenging or problematic legal issues facing Georgian legal profession and the justice system in that particular year. The conference marked the Professional Day of Lawyers celebrated in the country on the same date.

The conference was opened by the distinguished guests including the Chairperson of the Georgian Bar Association, President of the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Minister of Justice of Georgia and the Public Defender of Georgia. The Council of Europe was represented by the Head of the Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standards and the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.

During the first session participants and presenters discussed application of the European Convention on Human Rights with the involvement of the Georgian Lawyer in the Court, the representatives of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the GBA Human Rights Committee. The second session was dedicated to the HELP platform, in the presence of the Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division of the Council of Europe.

The conference is a part of Projects "Enhancing the Accountability and the Efficiency of the Judicial System and the Professionalism of Lawyers in Georgia" and “Supporting the Criminal Justice Reforms - Tackling Criminal Aspects of the Judicial Reforms in Georgia”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance (PGG II). The activity was also supported by the Council of Europe project “Enhancing Implementation of Human Rights Practices and Education in Georgia”.