European Parliament - Eastern Partnership and Russia Unit Directorate General for External Policies, Pillippe Kamaris responds the research published by the organization “Young Barristers” in October, 2014, according to which, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Georgia – Giorgi Papuashvili, lives in illegally deprived house in Adjara after the "Rose Revolution". The letter says that the European Parliament attentively observes the issues related to the dispute process on the property rights in Georgia and expresses interest in how the state will ensure to take into consideration the prepared recommendation proposals connected to the case of Roland Bladadze.

“Thank you for your 23.10 letter to President Schulz on the issue of illegally deprived properties in Georgia. On behalf of President Schulz, we would like to acknowledge receipt of the background material you attached, which has also been brought to the attention of the EP Delegation to the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, chaired by M. Sajjad Karim MEP (ECR, UK). As you know, more generally, property and land rights have been mentioned as an issue which deserves special scrutiny in the landmark report "Georgia in transition" which was publicly issued by M. Thomas Hammarberg. We had the pleasure of hearing M. Hammarberg in the EP on several occasions in the past, and are therefore aware, in principle, of the numerous complaints which have been addressed in Georgia on alleged property rights infringements. Even though I must admit I was not personally aware of the specifics of the case you have raised, the general recommendation in the aforementioned report is that, as long as court proceedings confirm that such violations have indeed taken place, " where restitution is feasible, it should be done without delay". While the report does acknowledge that full compensation remains a thorny issue, it also stresses that the Georgian authorities have to develop a mechanism to deal with such cases, in close cooperation with civil society and could consider reviewing the existing legislation on the matter. Beyond the specifics of the case you raise, therefore, I think it could be quite interesting for the Members of the EP Delegation to the EU-Georgia PCC to hear from your organisation whether steps have been taken to address this recommendation, and how you would assess these ; this could allow us, in turn, to focus more particularly on the issue during the talks MEPs are bound to have with their counterparts from the Georgian Parliament in a PCC context” – said in the letter sent by and on behalf of the President of the European Parliament to the organization, on November 10, 2014.

For more information: According to the published research of the “Young Barristers”, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Georgia - Giorgi Papuashvili lives in illegally deprived house in Adjara after the "Rose Revolution". The issue is related to the case, the history of which became known to broad society first time. In particular, the monitoring reports the case of Roland Bladadze, who whose property was deprived illegally against his will, in 2004. The organization, in the boundaries of implemented monitoring, has already appeales to the executive, legislative and  judicial authorities of Georgia with package of recommendations. English version of the research has already been sent to the diplomatic representatives in Georgia, to the Constitutional Courts of 20 European countries, to the Venice Commission and international organizations.