Address to the Minister of Corrections about Hindering the Activities of Attorneys in Penitentiary Establishments

Human Rights Center is concerned with the existing practice in penitentiary establishments when prison officers demand the lawyers to present them the notes they made during the meetings with their accused/convicted clients in prison.

Last incident happened today, on July 1, in the facility of the Prison # 7 where Lawyer Nestan Londaridze of Human Rights Center met her client and prison officers demanded her to present the notes from the meeting when she was leaving the facility.

Apparently, hindering the professional activities of attorneys by the prison personnel has acquired a systemic character because the officers clarified to the HRIDC lawyer that other attorneys obey their instructions.

The existing practice in penitentiary establishments hinders professional activities of attorneys. In accordance to the Article 4 Subparagraph “c” of the Law of Georgia on Attorneys, an attorney may meet a detainee, a prisoner or a freedom-restricted person in the places of detention without obstacles, at any time and without any control in accordance to the regulations set by the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia. She/he may have correspondence with the client; the attorney is authorized to respect the professional ethic code, whose Article 4 guarantees principle of confidentiality: information obtained by the attorney during his/her professional activities is confidential. The attorney is responsible to protect the confidential information so that third person did not have access to it. The confidentiality shall be respected in relation of any sort of information that was provided to the attorney by his/her client.

The attorney non-conditionally faces threat of breaching the professional ethic code if she/he obeys the demands of the prison personnel and provides them with the confidential information.

Human Rights Center notified the Ministry of Corrections about the problem first in 2014. In reply to the letter, the Ministry wrote that accused/convicted person may meet his/her attorney without any restriction and interference. Prison officer can observe the attorney only visually with technical tools of distant observation and recording though without listening. 

The letter of the Ministry of Corrections clearly states that current legislation does not contain any provision which allows a prison officer to control an attorney in the manner different from above-stated, to read notes of the attorney and his/her client. Also, the legislation does not restrict the possibility to record the contact information.

Despite this clarification, the prison personnel continue illegal control of attorneys.

Human Rights Center calls on the Minister of Corrections to get interested in the existing situation in penitentiary establishments and take effective measures to combat hindering of the attorneys’ professional activities in prisons.

Human Rights Center