Georgia has transformed the constitutional department into the agency for security and the anti-corruption agency, the special operative department was merged with the criminal police and the Central Criminal Police Department.
The parliament passed bills in the third reading to reform the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance. The package of 41 documents has already been sent to the president for signing and will come into force on July 1.
The department of corrections will be disbanded, the ministry will be split into civil and special services. The social service will become part of the civil service, functionaries of the special penitentiary service will have the same status as police officers and get state compensation accordingly.
Georgian prisons will be decentralized and their internal structure will be revamped. Local councils will be authorized to consider pardoning convicts, the permanent pardoning commission will be disbanded.
The solitary confinement period will be shortened from 20 to 14 days. The time for consideration of pardoning requests will be cut. Photographing in penitentiary institutions will be permitted. All personnel of the Interior Ministry will be retrained.
