"The disciplinary proceedings within the Georgian Bar Association are in dire need of complete reform. The Ethics Commission is utterly indefensible – Lasha Janibegashvili.
"The Georgian Bar Association and its disciplinary procedures urgently require a complete overhaul. My constitutional complaint, numbered 1424, submitted in 2019, articulates my concerns, which remain valid today.
The current model of the Georgian Bar Association blatantly contradicts the fundamental principles of fair administration of justice. I do not pay membership fees, nor am I a member, to have my honor, dignity, and professional reputation tarnished! I refuse to have my rights violated and be subjected to their false, pretentious, and hypocritical 'justice'!
I have never encountered such injustice and arbitrariness, such a blatant attack on my honor and dignity, as I have within the Ethics Commission of the Georgian Bar Association. This commission is staffed with unqualified individuals, lawyers who lack high moral standards and professional competence. They hold their positions not through merit, but solely due to their affiliation with Asatiani and Khatiashvili's group.
The members of the Ethics Commission, through their actions, significantly impede the practice of law for other attorneys, while they themselves remain perpetually unpunished! The Georgian Bar Association has become shackles on the hands of lawyers! They even restrict our freedom of speech and expression! Using Facebook messages as evidence violates the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and expression in a democratic state!
Through the Association, the Ethics Commission members have established a dictatorship over lawyers and monopolized the profession. Imposing their distorted version of 'justice' on members of a free profession is unacceptable! This blatantly contradicts the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which guarantees that:
'16. Governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.' 1
I believe the Georgian Bar Association grossly exceeds its discretionary powers, raising the issue of establishing alternative bar associations with minimal membership fees. 'Forcing membership in a professional organization, imposing their version of justice, selectively publishing decisions, and demanding annual membership fees, thereby monopolizing the profession, blatantly violates the principles of a 'just state' and 'fair trial,' undermining individual freedom and lawyer independence.'
My constitutional complaint is further substantiated by the Organic Law of Georgia 'On the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination,' which explicitly mandates the state to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on property and social status, placing individuals at a disadvantage.
The actions of the Ethics Commission members against me constitute direct discrimination. I have no faith that this commission, a tightly knit clique whose members regularly indulge in lavish gatherings funded by our membership fees, will render an objective and impartial decision. They publicly discuss our cases at universities, tarnishing our reputations. This is a vile and immoral act. (See attached link).
They have made training prohibitively expensive, and the whereabouts of our membership fees remain opaque and unaccounted for. They employ their own auditors and, through their revision commission, manipulate funds with impunity, taking advantage of the state's and other bodies' indifference to their corrupt practices.
Membership in the Georgian Bar Association, a Legal Entity of Public Law, should not be mandatory. Freedom of association, as enshrined in the Constitution and the Law on Advocacy, dictates that lawyers are free professionals, and forced membership is unconstitutional.
The Ethics Commission frequently engages in selective justice. The actions of Konstantine Gelashvili and Ana Loria, who deliberately disregard court decisions affirming lawyer integrity, conceal criminal proceedings against complainants, and distort statements and positions to initiate disciplinary proceedings, are clear examples of abuse of discretionary power. Despite amicable settlements, they persist in their biased actions.
Court decisions, the highest authority, are ignored. 'This body is governed by a clique, operates in complete lawlessness, and engages in selective justice. Cases against lawyers close to the Association or commission members are suppressed. They are biased; even with precedents, they initiate cases against lawyers, a practice even prosecutors and judges avoid.'
They discredit their members based on personal bias, publicly disseminating defamatory information without oversight, severely hindering legal practice. This leads to a travesty of justice and severe criticism against the Georgian Bar Association. The Ethics Commission's conduct is indefensible.
My group of 97,000 members and my official website attest to my successful track record, yet I am persecuted due to professional envy.
This discriminatory approach, motivated by professional animosity, is unacceptable. Unsuccessful lawyers cannot impartially judge their more successful colleagues, especially without oversight.
The actions of Ethics Commission members against their colleagues are shameful. Their public dissemination of distorted case details, without protecting personal data, constitutes gross interference in the legal profession.
I attach a link to New Vision University, where Ethics Commission members lecture, revealing distorted case details without protecting personal data, tarnishing our reputations.
No one should be forced to join a professional body and endure selective justice. The Georgian Bar Association, as a Legal Entity of Public Law, with unchecked finances, violates constitutional principles.
Article 26 of the Georgian Constitution, prohibiting monopolistic activity, and Article 22, guaranteeing freedom of association, are blatantly disregarded. The European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 6 and 11, also protect fair trial rights and freedom of association.
The cases 'Young, James and Webster v. the United Kingdom' and 'Amihalachioaie v. Moldova' further support my argument against forced membership.
The Georgian Bar Association's unchecked finances and selective justice, as detailed in the attached link, are unacceptable.
I believe the Georgian Bar Association is a corrupt body engaging in selective justice, possibly bribing judges, and establishing a dictatorship over lawyers. Since my 2019 constitutional complaint, they have orchestrated numerous provocations.
12 criminal cases have been initiated against me, and in 2021, four TV channels broadcast defamatory reports, orchestrated by David Asatiani and his team, to force me to withdraw my complaints.
In 2022, under David Asatiani's direction, Konstantine Gelashvili filed a second complaint against me, using fabricated evidence.
This is not justice, but abuse of power, persecution on professional grounds, and abuse of authority. Despite reporting these actions to the State Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office, no action has been taken.
David Asatiani has blocked my phone for over six years, and his team, who dominate the Association, are clearly behind these actions. This is why I have established committees to counter their influence."
