“State Is Funded from Committed Crimes” – Influential Organization Exposed Georgian Faulty Practice

Gela Mtivlishvili

Influential organization Transparency International – Georgia published a special report on the system of plea-bargain working in Georgia. The report describes the work of the plea bargain system in Georgia and how it influences the protection of the right to fair trial.

System of plea-bargain was introduced in judiciary system of Georgia in 2004. It is an agreement between the prosecutor and the defense side based on which the accused pleads guilty and consequently s/he shall be discharged or less grave punishment shall be used for him/her.”

The principle is simple: the accused is compensated at the expense of pleading guilty and neglecting his right to fair trial since he liberates everybody from long and tiresome trial proceedings.

Having signed agreements between the prosecutor and defense side the document is registered in written form and submitted to the court for approving. The court discusses and either declines or approves it. Judge shall estimate that accused agreed on plea-bargain voluntarily without oppression through qualified legal aid. Judge shall confirm that accused and his attorney are fully aware of the plea-bargain conditions and by signing this document they refuse to enjoy right to fair trial. Besides that, prosecutor shall provide Prima Facie because in accordance to the Georgian law a person cannot be found guilty based only on plea bargain. Other evidence shall also exist.

Practice

Plea bargain has been used in Georgia since it was introduced more and more often. Initially, they were applied only in the cases of corruptive crimes; lately, it is used in almost every criminal case.

According to the statists, in 2005 7 358 crimes were committed and plea-bargain was signed on 932 of them. In 2006, 3 791 plea-bargain were signed out of total 13 602 committed crimes. In 2007, 17 526 crimes were registered and 8 432 of them finished with plea-bargain. In 2008, 17 639 crimes happened and 9 207 plea-bargains were signed; in 2009, 9 459 crimes were committed before August and plea-bargain was achieved on 5 380 of them.

“The index of the signed plea-bargain last year from January to August in Georgia (56, 9 %) is not high in comparison with the US index of the same period of time (90-95 %); however, these figures demonstrate that plea-bargain has become a serious part of Georgian judiciary system. It is more spread in Georgia than in other states with inquisitive system. Apparently, Georgian judges, prosecutors and governmental officials evaluate this mechanism positively and consequently, in Georgia like in the USA ordinary trial has become alternative procedure,” stated the report of the Transparency International – Georgia.

How Committed Crimes Fund the State? Plea Bargain – Source of Income

“Through plea-bargains the state budget has really received quite a lot of money. In the first 8 months of 2009, 32 760 994 GEL was paid to the state budget from plea-bargains. If plea-bargains were signed at the same speed till the end of the year, additional 50 million GEL shall be transferred to the budget. In total, this sum is about 1 % of the total 2010 budget and could have been more than budgets of nine ministries and parliament of Georgia.

Plea-bargain as a “source to purchase freedom by money” has many opponents though it is very widely spread practice in Georgian judiciary system. If in 2004-2005 corrupted governmental officials and oligarchs used this method mostly, later it has become more democratic and was spread among criminals suspected in hooliganism and murder.  Lawyers state there were cases when prosecutors requested 100 000 GEL for minor offence. Very often, even when the requested sum is small, many accused cannot afford to pay it. After that, opponents assessed this practice as “justice for rich people,” stated the report.

Transparency International – Georgia has some questions in regard with the conditions of plea-bargain. “In this field the main problem is unavailable information about the amount of sum which is paid for plea-bargain. Transparency International – Georgia sent open letter to the government of Georgia in 2006 and requested transparency of the complete list of signed plea bargains. However, this list was not available in the report period either.”

Influential organization concluded that system of plea-bargain is not as successful as it is exposed by the government; though it is not that much incurable as opponents claim. “The fact is that plea-bargain is important changes in the system but it cannot promote the fairness of the judiciary system because of low culture of judiciary activities and low quality of impartiality of courts. Plea bargain shall not sign with the people who have committed grave crimes. But if it happens, at least the victim or his/her representative shall also agree it,” stated the report.