GEORGIA: NEW JUSTICE MINISTER DISCUSSES BUSINESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002224

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EINV GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: NEW JUSTICE MINISTER DISCUSSES BUSINESS
DISPUTES AND OTHER JUSTICE ISSUES

REF: A. A) TBILISI 2171

B. B) TBILISI 546

C. C) TBILISI 2072

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: In a November 29 meeting, Ambassador
raised two ongoing commercial cases involving U.S. companies
with newly-appointed Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili.
Regarding the Basel case, Adeishvili acknowledged that he had
heard of allegations of corruption and bribe-taking by the
judge, but said that Basel group attorneys had not provided
evidence during the appeal to indicate that a bribe had
occurred. Since then, Deputy Minister of Justice Tina
Burjaliani had met with Basel's attorney from Patton Boggs
about the case. On a separate commercial dispute involving
another American company, Adeishvili told the Ambassador he
understood the Maudi/Zurgavani case had been clarified and no
issues remained. Adeishvili told the Ambassador that he
expects the criminal procedure code to be passed by
Parliament in February 2009. He went on to say that the
Interagency Council for the Optional Protocol Against Torture
(OPCAT) chaired by MOJ was waiting on input from the Public
Defender's Office (PDO). The proposed MOJ amendment to
existing legislation would give the PDO responsibility for
monitoring all closed facilities. Adeishvili did not share
much insight on the upcoming merger of the MOJ and the
Prosecutor's Office, only saying that the Prosecutor
General's Office will not have a deputy and most of the
Deputy Ministers within the MOJ would continue as before. He
was not sure who would head the new independent Probation and
Penitentiary Department, but said it would most likely be
Bacho Akhalaia, the current head within the Justice Ministry.
End Summary.

Basel and Maudi Commercial Cases


2. (C) The Ambassador informed Adeishvili that an important
area of his responsibility is ensuring that American
businesses and investors are given fair and just treatment
abroad. The Ambassador asked about the status of the
complaints made by the Basel group regarding the judicial
proceedings regarding its commercial dispute and passed to
Adeishvili documents prepared by the group's legal counsel,
Patton Boggs. (Embassy note: Basel's counsel alleges that
the Georgian judge in the case is corrupt and has accepted
bribes from Basel's opponent. End note.) The Ambassador
stressed that the United States does not intervene in ongoing
court cases, but he wanted to ensure that the Minister was
aware of Basel's claims and to urge that the Government
review the allegations and provide a response. Adeishvili
said that if there is someone who can substantiate the claim
of bribes against the judge, that he or she should testify
during the appeal. He said Patton Boggs had not yet
presented evidence as proof of this claim. Regarding the
other U.S. dispute, the Maudi case, Adeishvili understood
that the matter of the firm getting the necessary
certificates that they needed to operate had been resolved.
(Note: Post continues to follow up with the American
investor to ensure all elements of the dispute have been
addressed, following up on the Ambassador's meeting with the
Prime Minister on this topic - ref A. End Note.) The
Ambassador also added that there is congressional interest in
both cases in Washington.

MOJ and Prosecutor General Office Merger


3. (C) Commenting on the upcoming merger of the Ministry of
Justice and the Prosecutor General's Office, Adeishvili, who
met with the Ambassador in the same office where he once sat
Qmet with the Ambassador in the same office where he once sat
as Prosecutor General and now sits as the Justice Minister,
said that the building where the current MOJ is housed would
be sold. A new building would be erected on the grounds of
the prosecutor general's complex. He did not expect that the
workings of the MOJ would change much, nor would the staff
change, specifically Deputy Minister Tina Burjaliani. He
estimated the number of MOJ employees to be 2,700, since
Legal Aid Offices, the Penitentiary Department and the
Forensics Bureaus would no longer fall under MOJ.

Prediction for the Criminal Procedure Code: Early 2009


4. (C) With regard to the passage of the new Criminal
Procedure Code, Adeishvili said that the proposed text, now
sitting in the parliament's legal committee, could expect to
pass a second reading by the end of the year, with passage
after the third reading most likely in February 2009. He
indicated that he didn't foresee any major problems, but
currently the committee is mired in "technical problems." He
planned to call Speaker Bakradze to encourage discussion and

TBILISI 00002224 002 OF 002


movement of the proposed legislation. The Ambassador
strongly supported the early passage of the Code.

Interagency Council for OPCAT


5. (C) Adeishvili said that Giga Bokeria would continue to
chair the Interagency Council for OPCAT, although he is now
working as the Deputy Foreign Minister, (Ref B). (Comment:
The Council has met fewer than seven times since its creation
in 2007 and was previously chaired by Bokeria when he was an
MP, and Deputy Minister of Justice Tina Burjaliani. Bokeria
has not yet chaired a meeting since being appointed Deputy
Foreign Minister. Since the Penitentiary Department will no
longer fall within the MOJ, there have been questions about
the future of the Interagency Council. End comment.) The
Council met November 22 to propose an amendment that would
designate the Ombudsman's office as the independent body
which would monitor treatment in all closed facilities.
Notably absent from the meeting was a representative of the
PDO, although representatives from the PDO had been invited.
Conventional wisdom is that the PDO could be designated as
the monitoring arm, but now it appears that Ombudsman Sozar
Subari himself may weigh in on proposed changes to the
legislation which would affect the role of his office.
Adeishvili believed that Subari was concentrating more on
politics than the designated role of his office, something
other independent observers have also recently echoed (Ref
C).
TEFFT