Minister Bernatonis noted that in the second half of 2013 Lithuania successfully presided over the Council of the European Union for the first time. Lithuania was active in the area of justice and the interior – it organised the first meeting of justice and interior ministers of the EU and Eastern Partnership, including Georgia. A joint ministerial declaration was adopted at the meeting.
Bernatonis welcomed cooperation in the area of justice and emphasised that in recent years experts from Lithuania's Justice Ministry transferred their experience on modernising legal aid system to representatives from Georgia. Georgians visited Lithuania's Centre of Registers and learned about the development of the Address Register.
The minister said that legal cooperation between the two countries in criminal cases is ongoing smoothly. However there is place for improvement in civil cases. Georgia has not yet signed most of conventions of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Therefore the justice minister proposed to consider participating in these conventions as this would facilitate and accelerate legal cooperation in civil cases.
During his visit to Georgia Bernatonis introduced legal reforms that are being carried out in Lithuania. The minister talked about the use of video conferences in civil cases and the recently introduced possibility for class-action lawsuits.
Georgian Government is working on the reform of the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor's Office, – the Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili has informed the Lithuanian Minister of Justice, Bernatonis about it during the today's meeting. According to the Prime Minister's explanation, the reform serves the systemic and structural improvement of the entities and the increase of their transparency, accountability and independence, reports BC Georgian government's press service.
The meeting was focused on the recent changes, introduced to the judiciary and legislative spheres of Georgia. As Irakli Garibashvili had noted, an anti-discrimination law was adopted. In addition, the work on bringing the Criminal Code in compliance with the International and European standards continues.
The Prime Minister informed the Lithuanian Minister of Justice about the amendments, introduced to the Labor Code and stated that the population has received rather balanced labor legislation.
In addition, according to the Government Leader, for the first time in the history of the country, the Parliament has adopted the National Human Rights Strategy and the Action Plan. At the end of the meeting, Irakli Garibashvili has congratulated Iuzas Bernatonis in advance with the 25th Anniversary of restoration of independence of Lithuania, celebrated by the country on March 11.
Minister Bernatonis os on a working visit to Georgia and Armenia from 2 through 6 March.
