Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), in partnership with the Charter of Journalistic Ethics and with the financial support of Open Society Georgia Foundation, is implementing the “Raising Legal Awareness of Journalists” project.
The project aims at increasing the quality of media products prepared by journalists, which will make it possible to provide TV viewers and readers with much more accurate, reliable, and in-depth information.
The training course envisaged by the project will last for four months and consist of 20 lectures, each with a duration of no less than three hours. The lectures will mainly be held on non-working days and/or hours (which will be agreed additionally with the selected group) in the office of Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) at the following address: 2 Davit Gamrekeli Street, Tbilisi.
The lectures will proceed according to the pre-prepared curriculum that is based on using methods of learning that will make the information more easily perceivable and make it easier to use in practice. The following topics will be discussed at the lectures:
constitutional law – the principles of the Constitution, forms of state governance, the principle of separation of powers, a general review of the formation of branches of government and the system of state organs, etc.
criminal law – the concept of crime, the presumption of innocence, the retroactive force of law, detention of a person, types of measures of restraint, the concept of blame, verdict, etc.
penitentiary law – types of penitentiary institutions, the concept of imprisonment, the institutions of convict and defendant, administrative imprisonment, disciplinary penalties, normative standards for prisoners, monitoring in a penitentiary institution, etc.
administrative law – administrative organs, public institutions, administrative proceedings, an interested party, an administrative complaint, compensation for damages, etc.
freedom of information – the concept of freedom of information, the concept of public information and its openness; state, commercial, professional and personal secret information; the methods and form of receiving information, judicial practice.
civil law – honor and dignity, the right to a name, the capacity to have rights and legal capacity, physical and legal persons, copyright and adjacent rights, etc.
law on entrepreneurship – entrepreneurial legal persons, the procedure of their registration, availability of charter documents, obtaining information about persons in charge, etc.
tax law – administration of taxes, direct and indirect taxes, types of taxes, liability, etc.
human rights law – general principles and specific topics: a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, prohibition of discrimination and hate speech, the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of religion, the right to ownership, etc.
children’s rights – children’s rights under international law and domestic standards, obligations of parents towards children, etc.
domestic violence – the concept and forms of domestic violence, mechanisms of protection, restraining and protection order, the role of law enforcement bodies, etc.
health care and patients’ rights – a general overview of patients’ rights, informed consent, confidentiality and protection of personal secret, etc.
During the course, the journalists will have the opportunity to receive both theoretical information and concrete recommendations from specialists about using corresponding legal standards in practice. After the course is completed, the journalists will receive corresponding certificates.
The training course will be held for 18 applicants (practicing journalists) selected on the basis of a competition.
Those who wish to take part in the training course should fill in a registration form in which they must indicate five articles or news items prepared by them recently on the corresponding topics.
See the registration form at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gGCzyfaht3CiAB_gl3AQ4CA4XD-vZhx9qn6XvP07Usg/viewform
Deadline for registration: August 25, 2013, 11:59 PM. Should you have any questions, please write to us at: education@gdi.ge
