On February 8, the elections were held to reveal the member of Legal Aid Council from Legal Aid Service. According to the existing legislation, the candidates from legal aid bureaus participated in the elections. They presented their visions and programs to improve the work of Legal Aid Council. The colleagues shared their opinions with each other on solving the problems on responding to the challenges that the Service faces.
On the basis of secret voting, the winner was defined. Zurab Dalakishvili, the Las Kvemo Kartli Legal Aid Bureau lawyer, became a member of Legal Aid Council who will represent the interests of his colleagues – the LAS public lawyers in the Council.
As it is known, Legal Aid Council was formed in 2014 as a supervisory board of Legal Aid Service. The council consists of 9 members: 3 representatives from the GBA, other representatives are from the Ministry of Justice, High Council of Justice, Public Defender, the GYLA, academic circle and Legal Aid Service.
On January 27, 2018, the term in office of the first Council ended. The members of the Council really did a great job – they held 54 sessions and made 56 decisions, among them approval of the statute and the strategy of the Service, expansion of mandate, setting up new bureaus and consultation centers. Accordingly, free legal assistance became accessible for more beneficiaries in Georgia.