Conditions of serving administrative penalty improved in Georgia

Head of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia Vano Merabishvili signed an enactment which improves the conditions of serving administrative penalty and extends the convicts’ rights. The enactment came into effect since the beginning of the year.

Amendments were introduced into the order of the Ministry of Interior Affairs dated February, 1, 2010, “On sanctioning supplementary instructions regulating the standard status of temporary isolation wards of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, internal regulations and activities of the wards”.

The new regulations stipulate improvement of sanitary and hygienic conditions, improvement and increase of food ration, accessibility of medical aid round the clock, reduction of custody terms and the right of walks and using the shower.

The convict will now get a right to see his family and close relatives and make a 10 minutes long telephone call once a month, “Novosti Georgia” reports.

It is prohibited to punish the persons serving administrative penalty by reduction of caloric content. In case if a person is sentenced to seven days of administrative penalty or a term of over seven days for the underage, he or she will be able to take a shower twice a week.

The convict also has a right of no less than an hour’s walk if the physician permits. In so doing, no more than three convicts can have a walk together and these cannot be persons serving penalty for one and the same crime.

According to the enactment, the persons serving administrative penalty have a right to see their attorneys without limitations of the number or duration of the meetings. In case if there is a written request a ten minutes long telephone call for account of the convict is permitted.

According to the enactment of Head of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the administration of the isolation ward must provide the convict with paper and a pen to write a complaint upon his request. Besides, the convict can send or receive unlimited number of letters inspected by the administration without familiarizing themselves with the contents of the messages.

Moreover, the persons serving administrative penalty have received a right to take part in the Integrated national examinations and all the conditions must be ensured for schoolchildren in order for them no to fall behind the school program, “Georgia-Online” reports.