Within the framework of the Year of the Family, many activities are carried out in our republic. One of them is the holding of complex receptions in municipalities. Today it was held in Aksbayev municipal district.

19 registered citizens came to us for help. Questions on the fulfillment of alimony obligations, issues of increasing social support measures for medical personnel, road construction, amendments to the legislation on civil service in terms of the guarantee for persons of pre-retirement age were discussed.

All the questions have been clarified, some of us have been put to work.

On 15 April 2024, the Consultative Council of the Public Defender of Georgia for Monitoring the Promotion, Protection and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held its 35th session.

At the opening of the session, Deputy Public Defender Irine Chikhladze introduced the agenda of the session to the attendees and emphasized the importance of the Council’s activities.

Irine Oboladze, Head of the Department of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, spoke about the measures carried out within the framework of the monitoring of the promotion, protection and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and future plans.

The accessibility of revenue service platforms, the possibility of organizing consultations regarding the creation of a registry by the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of identification of representatives of persons with disabilities (non-governmental organizations) in the process of implementation of the Convention, and the possibility and importance of evaluating the provisions of the Interagency Coordination Committee for the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities were discussed at the meeting. The state of data collection and data processing in public agencies was also assessed.

In addition, part of persons with disabilities expressed their position regarding the non-transparency of the process of submitting a candidate to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The draft law of Georgia “On the welfare of domestic animals” and the state of existing and newly constructed buildings after the approval of the National Accessibility Standards were also discussed.

At the end of the meeting, a discussion was held with the participation of representatives of the Public Defender, members of the Consultative Council, experts working on the issue, and representatives of the community of persons with disabilities, during which various issues were raised.

The meeting of the Consultative Council of the Public Defender was held within the framework of the EU-funded project “Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia”.

A number of meetings were held as part of the working visit of the Authorized person of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsman).

On April 18, 2024, as part of an international event aimed at strengthening the activities and exchange of experience of the Ombudsman of the Central Asian countries, the participants visited the Finnish Parliament building for the first time.

The human rights ombudsman of the Central Asian countries were for the first time familiarized with the activities of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, which has been functioning for a hundred years, acts as a supervisory body and has unique best practices in the field of ensuring the protection of human rights.

In addition, a tour of the building of the Finnish Parliament was organized, where information was provided on the law making, monitoring and analytical activities of deputies.

The participants in the event, organized jointly with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Rule of Law Centre at the University of Helsinki, also visited the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court and the Office of the Prosecutor General.

The ombudsman of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan met with the President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, Kari Kuusiniemi, and the Prosecutor General of Finland, Ari-Pekka Koivisto. During the organized meetings, representatives of these bodies gave detailed information on their activities.

The meetings, which took the form of rich mutual discussions, explored the experience of countries in ensuring human rights.

The Ombudsman Office of Azerbaijan continues its series of public-awareness training sessions within the framework of the “2024 Action Plan to Increase the Effectiveness of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and Freedoms,” approved by the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan.

The topic of the next public awareness event organized at the Ombudsman Office was “Protection of Children’s Rights: Responsibilities of State Authorities and Independent Monitoring Mechanism.”

The training was organized for deputies of the heads of Sabunchu and Sabail district executive authorities, members of the Commission on Minors and Protection of the Rights of Minors within those executive authorities, police officers from district police authorities, representatives from the Ministry of Science and Education, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population, the Management Union of Medical Territorial Divisions, as well as education, healthcare providers, and social workers in the field of children’s rights protection.

The staff of the North, South, West, and Northwest Regional Centers of the Ombudsman, as well as representatives from the Ombudsman Office of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, also joined the event online.

Speaking at the training, the Head of the Office, Aydin Safikhanli, said that the Ombudsman pays special attention to the implementation of legal public awareness in order to develop their legal thinking and legal culture in society. He pointed out that during this year, training sessions will continue to be organized based on the Action Plan on the Protection of the Rights of Vulnerable Population Groups and other related topics approved by the Ombudsman.

During the training, employees of the Child Rights Protection Unit within the Human Rights Protection Department of the Ombudsman Institution spoke about relevant topics.

The presentations focused on international legal norms and national legislative acts on the protection of child rights, the Ombudsman’s activities in this field, institutional systems and protection mechanisms, as well as the responsibilities of state institutions and persons working with children.

The Ombudsman’s new authorities regarding the monitoring and promotion of the implementation of the CRC, as well as the existing challenges in the protection of child rights and the Ombudsman’s relevant recommendations and suggestions.

During the training, discussions were held around the topic, and questions of raised by the participants were answered.

– Additional points provided to day laborers at construction sites when applying for public rental housing under the condition of putting money aside for a deductible fund for at least one year

– Day laborers excluded as business owners of small-scale construction did not put money aside for a deductible fund, overshadowing the purpose of the law

– Day laborers should be granted additional points if they have worked as construction workers for at least one year, even without accumulating deductible fund payments

 (6, Mar. 2024, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) recommended the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport to include day laborers at construction sites in the list of those eligible for additional points when selecting tenants of public rental housing in cases where they have worked as day laborers in the construction industry for at least one year, even if they have not put money aside for a deductible fund.

Day Laborer A who has worked at construction sites for a significant period submitted a “notice of confirmation for registering as insured of day laborer employment insurance” as evidence material to receive additional points (three points) for construction workers when applying for public rental housing supplied by Corporation.

However, Corporation denied the eligibility of Day Laborer A for additional points and dropped Day Laborer A during action screening on the grounds of having accumulated deductible fund payments with the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association for only 40 days. Eventually, Day Laborer A failed the action screening.

In response, Day Laborer A filed a grievance complaint to ACRC, arguing that it was unreasonable to be discriminated against in the selection of public rental housing tenants on the grounds of the business owner’s failure to put money aside for deductible fund, even though the day laborer at construction site met work period requirements for additional points.

According to the results of a survey conducted by ACRC, even though additional points for construction workers aim to address the housing insecurity of day laborers at construction sites, the “Enforcement Rule of the Special Act on Public Housing” only includes persons who have accumulated deductible fund payments for at least one year under the “Act on the Employment Improvement of Construction Workers.”

However, persons with the obligation of contributing to the deductible fund are limited to those working at construction sites of a certain scale, leading to situations where business owners of small-scale construction do not put money aside for the deductible fund for their workers.

Consequently, the accumulation of deductible fund payments varied depending on the scale of the construction, and there have been problems where the selection of tenants of public rental housing is decided based on the scale of construction at which day laborers worked, overshadowing the purpose of additional points, which aimed to alleviate the housing insecurity of day laborers at construction sites.

In this regard, ACRC recommended the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport grant additional points to construction workers if their work history can be objectively verified through the “notice of confirmation for registering as insured of day laborer employment insurance” issued by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, considering the purpose of additional points system for construction workers.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae Gyu said, “We must actively address unreasonable discrimination arising from the failure of fully reflecting the purpose of legislation aimed at supporting socially disadvantaged groups. We will remain committed to improving unreasonable institutions and rigorously protecting disadvantaged groups in the housing sector.”

Transparency, honesty and openness! Video surveillance allows experts, observers and voters to verify the integrity and reliability of the voting.

Public chambers in each region have special public surveillance centers open to all who wish to participate in video surveillance. There are screens in the center that simultaneously broadcast from 48 polling stations. After a certain time the picture on it changes.

The centre also has a situation centre, which has received about 7,000 reports from concerned citizens. It is worth noting that the vast majority of messages are positive!

The Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, Ms. Sabina Aliyeva, held a meeting with the Chairperson of the Qatar National Human Rights Committee, Ms. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah.

At the meeting, the Ombudsman provided broad information about her mandate, and activities in the field of protecting and promoting human rights and freedoms.

Highlighting the importance of international cooperation, the Ombudsman spoke about close collaboration with international organizations, as well as foreign ombudspersons and NHRIs of other countries, and concluded memoranda of understanding, adding that such bilateral cooperation will be further strengthened.

S.Aliyeva, outlining the amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Ombudsman, pointed out the expansion of the Ombudsman’s mandate regarding the protection of PWDs and children’s rights, ensuring equality and preventing discrimination, and protection of the right to information and other fields.

Providing information about the NPM activities, the Ombudsman also brought to the attention of the Chairperson the preventive monitoring visits conducted to places which persons cannot leave at their own will without prior notification in order to investigate detention conditions and treatment, and follow up on the implementation of the previously given recommendations.

The Ombudsman underlined that, up to date, there is no any information about the fate of about 4000 of our citizens reported missing during the First Karabakh War, while talking about the occupation and terror policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

The landmine problem existing in Azerbaijan, which had been buried by Armenia in our territories during the period of occupation, and which endangers the lives and health of our citizens, hinders the safe return of the former IDPs to their native lands, and the construction and re-building process were also a topic for discussion.

Sabina Aliyeva shared her views about the possible perspectives for the future cooperation within COP-29, the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, which will be hosted by our country this year. 

Ms. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah, the Chairperson, thanked the Ombudsman for the warm reception, and, in her turn, gave information about her own mandate, the directions for activity of the Committee, and expressed her interest in future collaboration.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the issues of mutual interest and prospects of collaboration.

– Revised Act on the Recovery of Public Funds passed at the National Assembly’s plenary session on Feb. 29^th

– Punitive sanctions strengthened including by stipulating criminal punishment of an unlawful beneficiary of payments from public funds

– A system of ‘Non-Real Name Report by Proxy’ introduced to expand support for subsidy fraud reporters

(14, Mar. 2024, ACRC)

From now on, a person who fraudulently receives payments* from the public funds will be punished by a prison sentence of 3 years or less or a fine not exceeding 30 million won.

*The term “payment from public funds” means a subsidy, compensation, or contribution provided from public funds under statutes and regulations or municipal ordinances and rules, or other money, goods, etc. offered without any corresponding consideration.

In addition, when a person files a report on fraudulent claims for public funds, he/she may use a ‘non-real name proxy report’ system which allows reporting by an attorney-at-law without revealing his/her personal identity.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) announced that the revision bill of the Act on Prohibition of False Claims for Public Funds and Recovery of Illicit Profits (the Public Fund Recovery Act) which prescribes the aforementioned passed at the National Assembly’s plenary session on Feb. 29.

According to the revision bill passed this time, sanctions against unlawful beneficiaries of payments from public funds have been strengthened while support for subsidy fraud reporters has been expanded.

The major revisions include: introduction of a criminal punishment against unlawful beneficiaries (at most 3 years in prisoner a fine not exceeding 30 million won); introduction of a provision in the Public Fund Recovery Act to calculate the amount to be recovered after adding interest upon retrieving illicit profits derived from payments from public funds; and reducing the scale of culpability reduction or exemption for voluntary reporters, etc.

On the other hand, institutional improvements to boost support for subsidy fraud reporters, such as introducing a system of Non-Real Name Report by Proxy and inserting a new provision of relief fund payment for reporters’ relatives or cohabitants, have also been made through this revision.

ACRC Acting Director General of Inspection & Protection Bureau Kim Eung Tae said, “Punishments against unlawful beneficiaries of payments from public funds have been more reinforced while support for false claim reporters has been expanded with the Public Fund Recovery Act revised this time. From now on, ACRC will strive to actively make institutional improvements in order for the public fund leakage not to take place.”

The CCAC received a report claiming that two public servants of the Social Welfare Bureau violated the provision of exclusivity by engaging in part-time work and provided false information in the declarations of assets and interests, thus allegedly violating the Legal Regime of Declaration of Assets and Interests.

The two public servants involved have joined the public service for more than a decade. Upon investigation of the CCAC, it came to light that the two persons, without making prior application to their department for engagement in part-time work, had been engaging in wedding services for reward and privately operating the relevant business together for a prolonged period of time. According to the findings of the CCAC’s investigation, there was evidence that the duo took risks and made false declarations deliberately despite their knowledge that prior permission must be obtained for engagement in part-time work and those details and incomes of part-time work must be truthfully specified in the declarations of assets and interests.

The two public servants involved were suspected to have committed the crime of “inaccurate data” provided for in the Legal Regime of Declaration of Assets and Interests. The case has been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office for handling. Moreover, the two public servants were also subject to disciplinary liability pursued by their department for the contravention of the provisions of exclusivity and the duty of not carrying out incompatible activities observed by public servants.

The Legal Regime of Declaration of Assets and Interests has been promulgated and entered into force for more than two decades. The CCAC reminds all the personnel obliged to submit the declarations that they should pay due regard to and seriously observe the relevant law provisions. They are advised to make true declarations and not to defy the law.

The new Ombudsman, Mr. Jack Chan, has started his term on 1 April 2024. The appointment for a term of five years was made by the Chief Executive of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under The Ombudsman Ordinance (Cap 397).

Mr. Chan said, “I am honoured to have been appointed by the Chief Executive as The Ombudsman. I pledge to contribute to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by doing my utmost in accordance with my statutory powers to serve the community, and to uphold fairness in and raise the quality and standard of public administration. During my term, I will lead my colleagues to collaborate closely with various government departments and public organisations to ensure that public complaints and concerns are properly handled and addressed.”

Mr. Chan is a seasoned and experienced former senior government official who had served the Government for nearly 40 years. He served as a directorate officer in various bureaux and departments. Mr. Chan was appointed as Under Secretary for Home Affairs in the fifth term of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and was appointed as Acting Secretary for Home Affairs from 24 January to 30 June 2022.