The Special Investigation Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the prevention of official misconduct

The Special Investigation Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the prevention of official misconduct

In order to take effective steps against official misconduct, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Special Investigation Service, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service.

The document was signed by the Head of the Special Investigation Service Koka Katsitadze, the Deputy Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili, the Deputy Minister of Justice Tornike Cheishvili, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze and the First Deputy Head of the State Security Service Aleksi Batiashvili.

The MOU ensures the development of an effective mechanism for the prevention of official misconduct, violent and ill-treatment facts committed by law enforcement officers.

The event was held with the support of  "The Human Rights Compliant Policing in Georgia” (HRCPG)project of the Council of Europe. Stefan Sirbu, the Deputy Head of the Georgia office of the Council of Europe, addressed the participants of the meeting with a welcome speech.

Within the framework of this MOU, under the initiative of the Special Investigation Service, a Special Prevention Council of some official misconduct will be created, where challenges raised in the process of effective investigation of official misconduct will be identified, prevention mechanisms will be elaborated, joint measures will be planned and agreed recommendations will be implemented in practice. It will be a strong platform to fight against ill-treatment with a common policy as well as through fruitful cooperation.

Since its creation, one of the main prioritiesof the Special Investigation Service is the prevention of crimes committed by law enforcement officers along with ensuring timely and effective investigations, which will be implemented through a signed MOU and the Council itself.

The Special Investigation Service will provide the Prevention Council with the statistical and analytical information obtained due tothe investigation of criminal cases, and will also discuss shortcomings and trends identified by the investigation. This will give law enforcement agencies the opportunity to be informed in advance about important issues and take appropriate measures for crime prevention.

Along with crime prevention, one of the Council's main functions will be to facilitate ongoing investigations of ill-treatments. Through coordinated cooperation of the agencies, the Council will have the opportunity to simplify and solve such important issues as ensuring unhindered entry into temporary detention centers, creating a flexible information/notification system; reducing the terms of transmission of evidential content information from other agencies, etc.

The Special Prevention Council will meet at least once a year as requested.

Representatives of the Public Defender's Office and non-governmental and international organizations attended the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).