On February 5, 2025, the Public Defender of Georgia filed a constitutional claim[1] with the Constitutional Court of Georgia, challenging the norms of the provisions of penitentiary institutions No. 2, No. 3, No. 6, No. 8, No. 11, No. 14, No. 15, No. 16, No. 17 and No. 18, which provide for the complete stripping of a prisoner's body during full examination. In particular, in accordance with the disputed norms, during a full examination, the accused/convicted person was obliged, upon the instruction of an authorized person, to completely undress or strip the relevant parts of the body.

It is noteworthy that in the parliamentary reports, the Public Defender of Georgia has repeatedly appealed to the Minister of Justice of Georgia to ensure the elimination of the practice of requiring the simultaneous undressing of different parts of the prisoner's body during the full examination by amending the relevant provisions of penitentiary institutions. Unfortunately, the recommendations of the Public Defender had not been implemented up to now.[2]

After the filing of the constitutional claim, by a letter dated June 11, 2025, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia informed the Constitutional Court that by the orders of the Minister of Justice of Georgia of June 10, 2025, amendments had been made to the provisions challenged in the constitutional claim No. 1851 and the issues raised by the claimant had been completely eliminated.

The Public Defender of Georgia welcomes the decision of the Minister of Justice, which endorsed the Public Defender’s request to abolish the practice of completely stripping a prisoner for the purpose of a full examination. Accordingly, the Public Defender applies to the Constitutional Court with a request to terminate the proceedings.