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Zaza Khatiashvili: “Bar Association Will Become Effective Agency”

January 13, 2010

  Ana Sheshaberidze

Bar Association has new chairman. The lawyers elected Zaza Khatiashvili on this position on December 27. The election was held in two parts.6 Lawyers were candidates during the first part. Ketevan Kvartskhava and Zaza Khatiashvili received most votes but in the second part Zaza Khatiashvili won with 720 votes.

Zaza Khatiashvili was nominated by the Trade Union of Lawyers. Gocha Svanidze, the former chairman of Bar Association, nominated Ketevan Kvartskhava. The Human Rights Centre interviewed Zaza Khatiashvili about the changes that are planned in Bar Association.

- Mr. Zaza, nobody expected your victory, because you are not pro-governmental candidate. How can you explain it?

- The Bar Association managed to do what other agencies have failed to do in the recent history of Georgia; they elected the candidate which was not acceptable for the government because of the election process, which the government carried out towards the corps of lawyers. Particularly, bringing lawyers from regions by buses; they pushed lawyers into the cars of CSD and then took them to Tbilisi to vote for the government’s candidate, also there were different methods of intimidating the lawyers. The lawyers managed to elect the head of association in similar conditions, who defended lawyers for those years. Probably, exactly this influenced the decision of the lawyers.

- You often make political statements. Will the politics influence your activities?

- I want to be far from political processes. .If this government thinks that I will stand in the street with flag, I can assure them that they are wrong. I am chairman of Bar Association and my duty is to fight for the independence of institutional independence of the association.

- How are you going to fight for your goals?

-  I do not know how I will manage it, but I think that we should inform international organizations to make changes in the Procedural Code to have equal rights.

- Are you going to initiative some changes in near future?

- We set up a group of lawyers after consulting with lawyers and one of the most famous lawyers of Georgia Shalva Shavgulidze will be the head of this group. We should introduce changes in the Law on Lawyers and we should also change the standards in the Criminal Procedural Code which are incompliant with international standards. It is interesting that Georgian version of the Procedural Code is different from English one. We will have strict reaction about it. The head of Bar Association must not sit in the office and receive salary from the taxes paid by lawyers and do not react on these shortcomings.

At first we should work out draft changes and then we should look for a group of lobbyists to submit the draft to the parliament. Many MPs call us and offer to lobby our initiative. Many of them are members of the National Movement, and opposition parties and they offer that if we have real proposals to establish justice and democratic principles, they will be eager to lobby our initiative. It is very good and if the parliamentary majority does not support the changes, we will see who wants and who does not want real changes in Georgia.

The draft changes will be introduced to the society and we will compare the changes with the international laws, which Georgia has signed and recognized as its priorities. If we recognize international standards, they shall be referred in national law too.

- Your supporters were under oppression before the elections. Did it continue after the elections?

- After I was elected, an incident happened in Kakheti Region. Lawyers, who did not travel to Tbilisi by the cars of SOD officers, were declared to be my supporters. Later, their clients were suggested not to cooperate with those lawyers.

- Iuri Vazagashvili, the father of killed Zurab Vazagashvili during special operation by police officers, was elected to be a member of ethic commission of the Bar Association. How correct was this decision?

- Changes were introduced to the law and according to it three representatives of civil society should be members of the ethic commission in order to make their work transparent. Tens of people were nominated. The association had to elect the independent person who could guarantee that lawyers are not arbitrarily detained. Iuri Vazagashvili and two more professors turned out such persons. Iuri Vazagashvili got most votes among the lawyers and won.

This is well-approved method in the west and Bar Association shared it- made its work transparent. Other structures should do the same; like Supreme Court, the Council of Justice etc.

- You stated that you will be dangerous candidate for the government. How can Zaza Khatiashvili be dangerous for the government?

- Old situation will not continue in the Bar Association here in after. The Bar Association was established not to react on violations. I will definitely react on violations, and it will be active and we will protect each member of the association. The association was an agency, which did not react when its members were arrested and beaten. They arrested more than 100 members during last 4 years (there are versions that 200 lawyers are arrested) and none of press conferences were held to protect the lawyers. When lawyers are arrested not for the crime but for their professional activities, we should definitely protest it.

The government knows that Zaza Khatiashvili will react on similar facts. Zaza Khatiashvili will fight to protect lawyers institutionally. We should introduce changes into the law on lawyers and Procedural Code. I want institutional independence of lawyers and nothing more. The person, who will help me to implement my plans, will become my friend even if s/he was my enemy.

If somebody wants to develop and create just state, s/he will be glad to see defender of lawyer’s rights to come in the Bar Association. It is the lawyer, who defended human rights all his life. The government is concerned because successful reform might be implemented in Georgia instead the façade judiciary reform, which is called “deformation” by the society.

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