Today, in Tbilisi, public lawyers elected Zakro Gvishiani as their representative in Legal Aid Council for one year term. Together with the other 8 members of the Council, Mr. Gvishiani, who is a lawyer of the LAS Tbilisi Legal Aid Bureau, will take part in management and monitoring of Legal Aid Service.
All 11 bureaus of Legal Aid Service presented one candidate each for elections of the Council member. The candidates, who were selected through secret voting by the bureau lawyers, conducted voting of each other’s programs regarding activities to be carried out in the Council. Zakro Gvishiani could win with 9 votes against 1.
Legal aid bureaus have elected their representative in Legal Aid Council for the third time. In 2014, the public lawyers chose Davit Botchorishvili, the LAS Tbilisi Legal Aid Bureau lawyer, in 2015 – Valeri Kvantaliani, the LAS Imereti-Kutaisi Legal Aid Bureau lawyer.
Legal Aid Council is a collective body created in 2014. The Council consists of 9 members among which three persons are represented by the Bar Association and Public Defender’s Office. Moreover, among the members represented by the Public Defender’s Office, one person is from the apparatus of the Office, one – from the human rights NGO and one is a representative of the academic society. The Ministry of Justice and the High Council of Justice are represented by one member each. One person is elected by the LAS legal aid bureaus each year. The other members hold their position for a 4-year term.
Legal Aid Council has very important functions such as: election of the director of Legal Aid Service, approval of the strategy of the Service and monitoring of its fulfillment, approval of the Statute and other regulating documents of the Service, making decision on setting up or winding up offices of the Service, etc.