Council of Europe is supporting the Georgian Bar Association to provide pro bono legal services for financially vulnerable single parents
On 10 July 2020 the Council of Europe and the Georgian Bar Association launches started an initiative aimed at providing pro bono legal services to financially vulnerable single parents, covering consultation and representation in courts as well as administrative bodies, - reports Council of Europe.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has left many individuals and families in Georgia under dire financial strain. Among other difficulties, vulnerable groups lack means to pay for legal representation, as many of them face the risk of losing or seeing diminished their sources of income, and require consultation and representation for labour rights disputes. This threatens that one fundamental right – access to justice and effective representation – may become difficult for those who are most vulnerable.
The pro bono legal service provided by the Georgian Bar Association will cover civil and administrative cases. For this purpose, 11 lawyers from Rustavi, Tbilisi, Samegrelo, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Kobuleti have been selected through open and competitive process.
The project beneficiaries are single parents who have not been included in the Unified Database of Socially Vulnerable Households but have been identified by social agents as persons close to the poverty line.
Applications can be submitted to the Georgian Bar Association in physical form (address: 8 Dzmebi Zubalashvilebi Street, Tbilisi) or by email at the address: probono@gba.ge The project maintains a hot line: 599 19 33 44
The pro bono service initiative will last for 6 months – until 31 December 2020.
The support to pro bono services for vulnerable persons affected by COVID-19 is implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Support to the profession of lawyer in Georgia” funded by voluntary contributions from Norway, European Union, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, HRTF, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Fund to End Violence Against Children, and Latvia to support the implementation of the Council of Europe Action plan for Georgia 2020-2023", - reads the statement.
