The International Association of Prosecutors, has awarded Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office for its “high-level hosting” of its annual event in Tbilisi in 2022, and unanimously elected Irakli Shotadze, the country’s Prosecutor General, as its honorary member for his work in implementation of “genuine reforms” in his agency.

The Association made the decisions during its 28th annual conference in London between September 24 - 27. As Secretary General Han Moraal said, Shotadze had been elected for his “special contribution to the implementation of the goals of the Association”.

He also pointed to “significant reforms and developments” ensured by the Georgian official while in office for increasing the “independence, power and transparency” of his body “in accordance with recommendations of international organisations”.

Moraal stressed the IAP was “proud” of enjoying “common values” with the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia and their existing “strategic partnership”.

He further noted in 2018 the Georgian agency had nominated its own representative Giorgi Gogadze to the Secretariat of the IAP as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association, and noted the move “once again confirmed the readiness of the Georgian Prosecutor"s Office to be an important contributor and strategic partner of IAP”.

Speaking about the IAP’s Tbilisi event, Moraal said in 2018 his organisation’s Executive Committee had approved the proposal by the Prosecutor General"s Office of Georgia to host the Association"s 26th annual conference in Tbilisi in 2021, which did not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia has been a member of the IAP since 2011, with the domestic agency saying it has been “closely cooperating” with the international body since 2014.

The Association was founded in 1995 and unites more than 183 members from over 177 countries.