Georgian Minister of Justice visits the United States
By Tsotne Pataraia
Thursday, September 12
The official visit of the Minister of Justice of Georgia to the United States began on September 11.
Minister held his first meeting with his colleague. Tea Tsulukiani and the Attorney General of the United States William Barr met in Washington earlier today. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Justice, Head of Special Penitentiary Service Giorgi Pataridze and Ambassador of Georgia to the USA David Bakradze.
Tsulukiani thanked the US Justice Department for their support in the fight against family violence, human trafficking, and corruption in Georgia and the changes carried out in the Georgian Juvenile Justice Code and the penitentiary system.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Tsulukiani noted at the meeting that the visit of the Minister of Justice of Georgia to the USA is especially important in the field of strategic cooperation and strategic relations between the US Department of Justice and the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. The Minister of Justice of Georgia expressed gratitude to the US Department of Justice for its support in the fight against domestic violence, organized crime, human trafficking, and corruption in Georgia; The efforts of the US Department of Justice to support the juvenile justice, penitentiary and law enforcement agencies.
Georgian minister also emphasized US support in the field of penitentiary and probation systems and informed the American side about the current reform of Georgian penitentiary system, which is focused on rehabilitation-resocialization of prisoners by offering special services. Tea Tsulukiani also spoke about the importance of bilateral cooperation in the field of extradition.
The gathering was significant as much as the two colleagues have signed a deal to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. Following the meeting, Georgia's Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani and US Attorney General William Barr put their signatures on a joint statement reaffirming Georgian-American partnership between the US Department of Justice and the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.
Fulfilling one of the main purposes of the visit, which is introducing American experiences in Georgian penitentiary system and informing partners about ongoing and planned reforms in the Georgian penitentiary system the Minister of Justice along with Giorgi Pataridze, Head of the Special Penitentiary Service, held a meeting with Kathleen Hawk Soyer, the head of the US Federal Bureau of Prisons. Tea Tsulukiani briefed counterpart on the key priorities under the 2019-2020 Strategy and Action Plan for Penitentiary and Crime Prevention Systems. The sides discussed the issues of prisoners' re-socialization and reintegration, crime prevention, and crime reduction. According to Tea Tsulukiani, these directions are crucial for reducing public safety and crime in Georgia.
Following the press report published by Georgian Ministry of Justice, Tea Tsulukiani noted at the meeting that among the special priorities of the Penitentiary Service is to create such systems and infrastructure for inmates that will ensure their future employment, vocational training, and education. At the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked the American Government for supporting Georgian reforms and for sharing experiences with the Georgian side.
Since the Georgian Dream came to power in 2012, despite the change of four prime ministers and dozens of ministers, Tea Tsulukiani is the only minister to remain in office. She is a close ally of Bidzina Ivanishvili (former PM and current chairman of the ruling party Georgian Dream) and served as his lawyer before becoming a member of Ivanishvili’s cabinet.
