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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Georgia (RATIFICATION: 1993)

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Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. National Action Plan. Implementation and assessment. The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government, in its report, concerning the measures taken to combat trafficking in persons and the activities of the Inter-Agency Council on Combatting Trafficking in Persons. It notes in particular that every two years a National Action Plan on Combatting Trafficking in Persons (NAP) is adopted; the majority of the activities provided in the NAP 2019–20 have been fully implemented; the Inter-Agency Council monitors the implementation process of the NAPs and publishes implementation reports and recommendations; the NAP on Combatting Trafficking in Persons for 2023–24 sets out new objectives and activities under the 4P principles (prevention, protection, prosecution and partnerships). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved following the implementation of the NAP on Combatting Trafficking in Persons for 2023-24, the challenges identified and any new measures taken or envisaged in response.

2. Protection of victims. The Committee observes from the information provided by the Government that five crises centres and two shelters are available to presumed victims and victims of trafficking in Georgia. In total, six victims of trafficking in 2020 and eight in 2021 were identified and received various assistance services by the Agency of State Care and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking, such as accommodation, legal aid and consultation, medical and psychological assistance as well as compensation. The Government further indicates that as a result of the 2021 amendments to the Act on Combating Human Trafficking, 2006, a one-off state compensation is provided to victims of trafficking by the Agency of State Care and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking without the previous requirement to exhaust judicial remedies to obtain compensation from the offender.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that victims of trafficking in persons, for both sexual and labour exploitation, are provided with adequate protection and assistance. Please also indicate the number of victims who have benefited from the one-off compensation provided by the Agency of State Care and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking.

3. Prosecution and application of penal sanctions. The Government indicates that for the period 2018–21, 47 investigations were initiated, and eight persons were convicted under section 143-1 “trafficking in persons” of the Criminal Code. The penalties imposed ranged from 5 to 15 years’ imprisonment. The Government further indicates that the mobile groups and the task force operating under the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (CCPD) regularly monitor and check places with a high risk of trafficking in persons. Both the mobile groups and the labour inspection services which carry out scheduled and unscheduled visits to companies and refer suspected cases of forced labour to the CCPD, use special guidelines and standard operational procedures for the effective identification of cases. The Government points out that since 2012, the number of investigations of trafficking in persons offences has doubled, whereas the number of prosecutions has increased five times due to proactive measures of the law enforcement bodies.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure the effective identification of cases of trafficking in persons, for both labour and sexual exploitation, and proactive investigations and prosecutions. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions as well as the penalties applied under section 143-1 of the Criminal Code.

Article 2(2)(c). 1. Sentences of community service. The Committee observes that sections 40(1)(c) and 44 of the Criminal Code provide, among the penal sanctions that can be imposed by courts, the penalty of community service, which consists of an obligation to perform unpaid work during a period from 40 to 800 hours. The Committee further observes that according to section 29(1) of the Act on the Procedure for Enforcing Non-Custodial Sentences and Probation of 2007, as amended in 2020, the work performed under the penalty of community service may also be undertaken for a private entity. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the nature of the institutions, including private entities, for which offenders may perform unpaid work, as well as examples of the types of work performed.

2. Sentences of correctional work. The Committee observes that, pursuant to sections 40(1)(d) and 45 of the Criminal Code, courts can impose on offenders a penal sanction of correctional work for a period from one month to two years. Correctional work is performed at the offender’s main place of work and up to 20 per cent of his/her earnings is collected for the State (section 45(2) of the Criminal Code). As per section 35(1) of the Act on the Procedure for Enforcing Non-Custodial Sentences and Probation of 2007, as amended in 2020, a convicted person sentenced to correctional work is prohibited to leave his/her employment without the written permission of the probation service. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the cases in which the permission to leave employment may be refused by the probation service. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the sentence of correctional work is executed when a convicted person is not employed or leaves his/her employment.