On 14 February 2015, journalists from Georgia participated in a mock trial hosted by the Tbilisi Appellate Court. The capstone event followed a two-week intensive course in Legal Education for Journalist organised by the Association of Law Firms of Georgia (ALFG) in cooperation with the EU-funded project HD-led project Support to the Reform of the Criminal Justice System in Georgia.
The aim of the course was to deepen the understanding of journalists of how to report responsibly about events and issues arising from the courthouse beat. The topic is clearly important as the only contact that most citizens will have with the legal system is through the media.
The course and trial were the final phase and culmination of the wider project “Legal Education for Journalist”, which aimed to give journalists experience of the courtroom setting from the perspective of a party to a proceeding, and to provide journalists with a chance to learn about the Georgian legal system from actual practicing attorneys and judges.
At the end of the mock trial, a course graduation ceremony was held, and journalists received certificates of course completion, as well as a specially developed handbook, covering training topics, together with a dictionary on terminology of criminal and civil law.