On March 26 at the “Sheraton Metekhi Palace “ in Tbilisi With the support of the Tbilisi Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the LEPL Legal Aid Action Plan - "Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" was presented.
The LEPL Legal Aid Action is prepared in accordance with the legislative changes adopted by the Parliament of Georgia in 2020. The new Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities significantly improves the legal guarantees for people with disabilities at the national level.
The law aims at regulating the legal status of persons with disabilities, creating legislative guarantees to protect their rights and freedoms, and reflecting the basic principles and values of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Georgian legislation. To do this, the law imposes a number of obligations on government agencies, including the LEPL Legal Aid Service.
The presentation was attended by the members of the Parliament of Georgia, the representatives of the government administration and representatives of organizations working on the issues of persons with disabilities.
Razhden Kuprashvili, Director of the Legal Aid Service, informed the gathered public about the changes made in the direction of providing free legal aid to persons with disabilities.
The meeting participants were addressed by Vladimir Shkolnikov, Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the South Caucasus.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, spoke about the legislative changes made last year and, accordingly, the rights of people with disabilities are gradually being improved.
Maka Peradze, Head of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Government of Georgia, spoke in detail about the plans that will significantly change the environment, work or relocation conditions for people with disabilities at the national level.
David Simonia, Head of the Analytical Division of the Legal Aid Service, spoke about the challenges facing the Service and he also presented the 2021 plan.
In the discussion followed there were involved the representatives of the community of persons with disabilities operating in Georgia. They put forward specific issues and expressed their readiness to take an active part in resolving these issues.
The final version of the Action Plan 2021 on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prepared by the LEPL Legal Aid Service will be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia.