TO THE PARLIAMENT OF GEORGIA

Pursuant to Article 100, Paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL

On the Abolition of Mandatory Membership in the Georgian Bar Association Established by the Law of Georgia on Advocates and on the Creation of a Professional Self-Governance and Accountability Model for Advocates

I, Lasha Janibegashvili, hereby submit this legislative proposal to the Parliament of Georgia and request a review of the existing model of unified and mandatory membership established by the Law of Georgia on Advocates.

Under the current legislation, adopted during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, the practice of law in Georgia is effectively linked to mandatory membership in one specific legal entity under public law — the Georgian Bar Association. In other words, advocates, as members of a free profession, were compelled to unite within a single monopolized Bar Association.

In my assessment, this contradicts the principles of separation of powers, accountability, and oversight enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia.

Within this organization, elections are held in such a manner that one consolidated group effectively transfers control to another. First, Zaza Khatiashvili passed leadership to his friend, then Davit Asatiani passed it on, and now leadership has been transferred to Irakli Kandashvili. These leaders come with their own teams and staff the Ethics Commission accordingly.

Through this mechanism, they engage in personal retaliation against advocates who are undesirable to them, including myself.

Within the Georgian Bar Association, there is arbitrariness, non-transparent expenditure of financial resources, and uncontrolled persecution of advocates through the Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission is staffed by advocates close to the team of the Chairperson of the Association. As a result, in my assessment, disciplinary practice is selective — advocates favored by the leadership are not sanctioned, while those who are considered undesirable are subjected to persecution and disproportionate disciplinary liability.

A clear example is my own case. My right to practice law was suspended for three years solely because of a status I published on Facebook. The complaint against me was filed by the Chairperson of the Ethics Commission himself, and false and non-authentic materials were used in the disciplinary proceedings. An examination conducted by the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau established that the materials in question were non-authentic and falsified. Despite this, my license to practice law has still not been restored.

To this day, these facts have not been effectively investigated by any state authority, including the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.

This unlawful decision harmed both my private interests and significant public interests. Numerous citizens who had granted me powers of attorney and whose cases I was handling were left without the defender and representative of their choice.

As a result of the persecution against me, the unlawful restriction of my professional activity, and attacks against me, I was forced to leave Georgia together with my family and seek political asylum. I have now been abroad for a year and a half and am living in extremely difficult and unbearable conditions.

In view of the above, I respectfully request that, under an expedited procedure, you repeal those provisions of the Law of Georgia on Advocates that compel advocates to be members of only one organization — the Georgian Bar Association — and make the exercise of the legal profession mandatorily dependent on membership in a single association.

The existing system creates a monopolistic and practically uncontrolled mechanism that enables selective treatment of advocates, professional persecution, and the imposition of sanctions that harm not only the individual advocate concerned, but also the citizens represented by that advocate and the interests of justice as a whole.

Substance of the Legislative Proposal

In view of the above, I propose that the Parliament of Georgia:

1. Abolish the legislative model under which membership in only one organization — the Georgian Bar Association — is a mandatory precondition for practicing law.

2. Amend Article 1, Paragraph 2 of the Law of Georgia on Advocates, as well as all other provisions systemically connected with it.

3. Establish an alternative model under which an advocate would have the possibility to:

a) join one of several independent professional associations that comply with standards established by law;

and/or

b) obtain the right to practice law through an independent licensing and/or registration mechanism, so that the exercise of the profession is not dependent on membership in one specific professional organization.

4. Establish additional safeguards of independence for the exercise of disciplinary powers, including strict conflict-of-interest rules and a mechanism that excludes the possibility of the professional future of an advocate being decided, individually or collectively, by professional competitors or by persons connected with the leadership of the organization.

5. Establish by law a high standard of financial transparency for the Georgian Bar Association, including mandatory annual independent audits, detailed financial reporting, and public access for members to information concerning expenditures.

6. Require Parliament to examine the disciplinary practice of recent years, including cases involving long-term suspension from professional activity, in order to assess the proportionality of sanctions and the consistency and equality of disciplinary practice.

Necessity for Expedited Legislative Action

The urgency of this issue is determined by the fact that the existing system affects, on a daily basis, not only the professional rights of thousands of advocates, but also the rights of tens of thousands of citizens to freely choose their defender and representative.

In my own case, the processes related to the suspension of my professional activity and other related events have resulted in extremely serious consequences. Together with my family, I was forced to leave Georgia and I am currently abroad, where I am seeking international protection.

In these circumstances, it is particularly important that Parliament not regard this issue merely as an individual dispute concerning one person.

The issue concerns whether, in a democratic state, a single professional organization may possess de facto monopolistic power over the ability of a member of a free profession to continue practicing, while that advocate has no possibility to choose an alternative professional organization.

Request

On the basis of the above, I respectfully request that you consider this legislative proposal in accordance with the procedure established by Article 100 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia and that Members of Parliament exercise their right of legislative initiative in order to introduce the relevant systemic amendments to the Law of Georgia on Advocates.

Given the high level of public interest in this issue, the importance of the professional independence of advocates, and the impact of the existing system on citizens’ right to legal protection, I further request that, to the extent permitted by law, the relevant legislative amendments be considered under an expedited procedure.

Respectfully,

Lasha Janibegashvili