Penitentiary Service dismisses statement released by GYLA regarding obstruction of a lawyer's work as baseless
The Special Penitentiary Service is responding to information released by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), according to which the organization's lawyer faced obstruction while performing their duties at a penitentiary facility.
The agency clarifies that the statement issued by the Young Lawyers' Association regarding the obstruction of the lawyer's work is unfounded.
“The Special Penitentiary Service clarifies that, in accordance with the requirements of Article 115 of the Penitentiary Code, an accused person or convict has the right to send and receive an unlimited number of letters in the manner prescribed by Georgian legislation. The penitentiary institution ensures the delivery of letters received in the name of the accused or convict to them, as well as the dispatch of letters from the accused or convict to the addressee. Pursuant to Part 6 of the same Article, the correspondence of the accused or convict is subject to inspection. This inspection entails a visual examination of the correspondence without reviewing its content; however, in exceptional cases—where there is a reasonable suspicion that the correspondence might disseminate information threatening public order, public safety, or the rights and freedoms of others—an authorized official of the penitentiary institution is empowered to review the content of the correspondence and, if necessary, restrict its delivery to the addressee.
Under Article 95 of the Penitentiary Code, an accused person or convict has the right to meet without restriction or interference with their lawyer, who is conducting legal practice as provided by law. No provision of the legislation grants a lawyer the right to remove various types of records from the facility after meeting with the accused or convict. As previously noted, an employee of the Penitentiary Service is authorized to examine the content of correspondence only if there is a reasonable suspicion.
The Special Penitentiary Service enables both the accused/convict and each lawyer to send correspondence through the facility in accordance with established procedures. All practicing lawyers are informed of these regulations. Consequently, the statement issued by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association regarding interference with professional activities is unfounded,” reads the statement.
Notably, according to GYLA, a lawyer was denied permission to take out notes made during a meeting with prisoner Giorgi Davitadze; the organization is calling for a response to this incident from the Public Defender, the Bar Association, and the Prosecutor's Office.
