The Parliament of Georgia shared the opinions of the Special Investigation Service and in III reading adopted the draft law, which enlarges the mandate of the independent investigation mechanism

The Parliament of Georgia shared the opinions of the Special Investigation Service and in III reading adopted the draft law, which enlarges the mandate of the independent investigation mechanism

The Special Investigation Service actively participated in the working group of the Parliament of Georgia to fulfill the 12-point plan of the European Commission and with respect to ensuring its institutional strength and independence worked on the legislative amendments to be implemented.

For the mentioned purpose, on September 30 the Special Investigation Service addressed the Parliament of Georgia with proposals regarding the implementation of the recommendation of the European Commission.

According to the amendments, the jurisdiction of the Special Investigation Service has been expanded and additionally covered the crime provided by the relevant Article of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which is related to the fact of violation of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or its Additional Protocol established by the legally binding decision of the European Court of Human Rights. This will enable the country to successfully fulfill its positive obligation to subject the investigation of violent crimes committed by state officials to an independent investigation mechanism.

Crimes, which were revealed in the process of investigation of the facts of ill-treatment, also became the subject of investigation of the Service. These are the crimes related to the destruction of possible evidence, illegal detention, exceeding official authority and cases of official fraud (Articles 147, 332, 333, 341 and 369¹ of the Criminal Code of Georgia).

The Parliament of Georgia shared the opinion of the Special Investigation Service on redefining the crimes under its investigative jurisdiction and according to the amendments, violent crimes related to elections (Articles 162-163 and 164⁴ of the Criminal Code) will be investigated by the Special Investigation Service only in case, if they are committed by law enforcement officers.

It should be emphasized that based on the amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, the Head of the Special Investigation Service was given the authority to request the appointment of a hearing in the relevant committee in order to increase the effectiveness of the Service's activities, including legislative changes for the mentioned purpose.

The Special Investigation Service plans to pursue active and close cooperation with the Parliament of Georgia and all the parties concerned in order to further strengthen the independent investigation mechanism and ensure its independence.