The legislative package, which will make the Legal Aid Service a body accountable to the Prime Minister, will be considered by the Human Rights Committee on February 2.

The discussion will be held in the first reading in Parliament.

The Legal Aid Service, which is independent in its activities under the current law, is not subject to any state body and is accountable only to Parliament, will become a body accountable to the Prime Minister with the planned amendments. The head of the service will submit its annual report to the Prime Minister instead of the Parliament. In addition, the Prime Minister will be granted the authority to appoint and dismiss the director of the service.

The package of legislative amendments changes both the rules for appointing and dismissing the director of the Legal Aid Service, as well as the staffing model of the collegiate body governing the service, the Legal Aid Council.

According to the current law, the Legal Aid Council consists of 9 members, of which 3 members are elected by the Executive Board of the Bar Association, 3 members are elected by the Public Defender, 1 member is elected by the bureaus from among the lawyers of the Legal Aid Bureaus, 1 member is nominated by the Minister of Justice from among the employees of the Ministry of Justice, and 1 member is nominated by the High Council of Justice from among the non-judge members of the High Council of Justice.

According to the draft submitted to the Parliament, the Legal Aid Council will be composed of 7 members instead of 9 members. 2 of them will be the chairmen of the Parliament's Legal Issues and Human Rights and Civil Integration Committees, 1 − the Secretary of the High Council of Justice, 1 − the Prosecutor General, 1 − the Head of the Government Administration, 1 − the Public Defender, and 1 − the Chairman of the Bar Association. The term of office of the members of the Council is determined by the period of their tenure in their respective positions.

According to the draft submitted to the Parliament, the term of office of the Director of the Legal Aid Service will be terminated from May 1, 2026 and he will be compensated in the amount of 3 months' salary. The term of office of the members of the Legal Aid Council will be terminated from April 1, 2026.

The new composition of the Council must ensure the selection of a candidate for the position of Director of the Legal Aid Service within two weeks and submit him to the Prime Minister of Georgia for appointment to the position.

The authors and initiators of the package of legislative amendments are the deputies of the Georgian Dream. According to their explanation, the amendments will ensure an increase in the effectiveness of the activities of the Legal Aid Service and its monitoring.