Register of invited public defenders is one of the means of the provision of legal aid. It was created in May 2009 for unhampered access to legal aid and operates in following way: Legal Aid Service has a database of private lawyers, who provide free services to the clients on public funds. The lawyers registered in roster of invited public defenders are appointed to criminal, legal and administrative cases if the opposing parties apply to the bureau. In accordance with the ethical standard, the parties opposed in one and the same case may not be defended by a Legal Aid Bureau. In such case, the lawyer of legal aid service shall represent only one party while the other shall be represented by a roster lawyer. In the regions, where there are no legal aid Bureaus, the lawyers shall be appointed from the roster to civil, criminal and administrative cases by Consultation Centers of Legal Aid Service.

The Roster lawyer on the case shall be appointed by Head of the Bureau, Service provider or consultant of the Consultation center upon application of the physical person, ruling of case processing body or the court, if the grounds envisaged by “Law on Legal Aid”, regulation of LAS or art. 6 of Code of Ethics of LEPL Georgian Bar Association are present. The Legal Aid Service shall pay a lump sum to the lawyer for the participation in the case. This sum shall also include the transportation fees and costs for the review of the case files. Other actions taken on the case by the lawyer, favorable outcome of the case for the client conditioned by active and efficient defense are also subject to compensation.

Roster is created by way of open competition. By now there are 75 lawyers registered in the Roster of invited public lawyers and providing service. Among them, 51 are specialized in criminal law, 21 are generalists and 3 are specialized in civil law.