According to the decision of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, the organization "Young Barristers" was announced the winner of the project "Protection of Children's Rights in Georgia under the Hague Convention" submitted within the framework of the grant program.

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was signed on October 25, 1980. Georgia is a signatory to this Convention. As a result of the amendments to the Civil Procedure Code of Georgia, the tools related to the processing of cases of illegally displaced children have been identified.

In Georgian courts, the parties to the Hague Convention are mostly foreign nationals, although recent litigation has shown that one of the parties to the dispute is Georgian nationals who have lived abroad and lived together due to family disputes, especially Under COVID19, they left their usual place of residence, moved or returned to Georgia with the minors, and the child's second legal representative filed a lawsuit in Georgia, requesting that the child/children return to their usual place of residence. At such times, the parties face numerous practical and substantive problems. For example, unqualified legal services, since Georgian lawyers do not have information about the goals and objectives of the Hague Convention, disputes within the framework of the Convention are justified only by the rules of family disputes established by the Civil Code of Georgia, they are not aware of decisions of national and foreign courts. There is an unreasonable cost of legal services, the cost of compiling case materials in Georgian and notarization, the problem of communication with the court and administrative bodies in the state language. The problem is the language barrier between the parties of the dispute and the representative etc.

The Young barrister's project aims to promote the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which is a combination of three components:

1. Preparation and conduct of professional training for members of the Georgian Bar Association;

2. Raising civil awareness at the national level about the rights enshrined in the Convention

3. Free advocacy for disputes in Georgian courts under the Convention.

The project aims to offer a special protection environment not only for Georgian citizens but also for foreign citizens and stateless persons. On the one hand, to raise public awareness at the national level, on the other hand, to provide appropriate training to representatives of the legal profession - lawyers, and on the third hand - to ensure the best interests of the child. Accordingly, the project is the first opportunity and mechanism at the national level, which is focused on creating a legally regulated environment and raising awareness, which gives Georgia significant dignity as a reforming country.

The Young barrister's project will be implemented over the next 6 months and will be led by the organization's executive team. Numerous activities and events are planned within the project. The Ministry funded 14 projects under the grant program, in total, 257,919 GEL.