One of the important aspects of the Legal Aid Service is to regulate legal matters related to the pensions and assistance of citizens on this issue. 

The Legal Aid Service offers free legal consultations in order to ensure protection of rights of beneficiaries on pension disputes. They are entitled to use person-to-person and telephone/online consultation services. Legal Aid Service provides legal assistance on pension disputes to an insolvent person whose case falls into the category of complex and important cases.

Pension is a total of monthly cash benefit and health insurance granted to a person.

Application on a claim for a pension shall be submitted to any territorial unit of the LEPL Social Service Agency, despite the registration of a pension claimant. The personal identification document shall be attached to the application. The citizen of Georgia, aliens who have legally resided in the territory of Georgia for the last 10 years are authorized to be awarded pension. Men are entitled to a pension from the attainment of the age of 65; women are entitled to a pension from the age of 60. If a person is entitled to the age pension benefits and for the State Compensation or State Academic Stipends simultaneously, the person may claim the payment of only one benefit of his/her own choice. A person is not entitled to be in public service and at the same time receive age pension. In case a person is public servant the right to entitlement to a pension doesn’t originate or the right will be terminated during the period of public service.  

Pensioner is authorized to receive social assistance in accordance with the Georgian legislation and is entitled to other rights determined by the law. 

Payment of pension shall be suspended when a person fails to withdraw pension for six consecutive months and when person is in pretrial detention. Payment of pensions shall be resumed and the undrawn amount of the past period, but not more than one year after the date of suspending the payment of pension, shall be subject to payment except the pension suspended due to pretrial detention of a person which can be resumed when a judgment of acquittal is delivered with respect to a person.

Payment of pension will be terminated in case of:

• a personal application;
• public service;
• a court's judgment of conviction enters into force, under which the person has been sentenced to imprisonment, on the date of the suspension of the payment of pension;
• an alien or a stateless person is removed from Georgia;
• a person renounces or loses the citizenship of Georgia;
• the pensioner dies;
• a period of three years from the date of suspension of the payment of pension has elapsed;
• on the other grounds related to the Law of Georgia on State Pension.

To grant, organize payment of, suspend, resume, terminate and recalculate pensions, as well as regulation of other relationship related to receipt of a pension and implementation of rights and obligations determined for a competent authority is performed by the Legal Entity of Public Law - Social Service Agency.

The territorial bureaus/consultation centers of the LEPL Legal Aid Service provide free consultation and legal assistance (drafting legal documents, court representation) in cases of violation of rights related to the payment of a pension within the boundaries established by the law.

Legal Acts

• Constitution of Georgia
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Law of Georgia on State Pensions
• Ordinance N46/ნ of the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs on Approval of Rule on Granting and Paying the State Pension Package and State Compensation issued on February 10, 2006
• Ordinance №279 of the Government of Georgia on Determination of Social Package
• Law of Georgia on the State Budget for 2017
• Law of Georgia on Legal Aid
• Law of Georgia on Advocates
• Ordinance #424 of the Government of Georgia on Approval of a Rule for Determination of Insolvency of a Person
• Decision #20 of the Legal Aid Board on Approval of Regulation of the Legal Entity of Public Law – Legal Aid Service 
• Decision #27 of the Legal Aid Board on Approval of Criteria for Providing Legal Aid Service determined under article 5 and 3 of the Law of Georgia on Legal Aid 

Scope of Service

In the course of conducting defense on civil and/or administrative cases, the lawyer of Legal Aid Service, as the rule conducts following actions:

• Reviews the information and case materials.
• Meets with the client and provides legal advice.
• Analyzes the information related to the case, ensures the collection of evidence and submission with the court for the purpose of successful conduct of the case.
• Represents the client in court.
• Drafts legal documents related to the case – motions, claims, counterclaims, motions complaints, applications.
• Informs the client an in case of necessity his/her legal representative on the course of conduct of the case.

Terms of Use of the Service

The Legal Aid Service provides free legal assistance in pension disputes if a person is insolvent and his/her case falls into the category of complex and important cases.

A person is considered to be insolvent and entitled to use legal services on state’s expense if he/she is a member of a family registered in the unified database of socially vulnerable families, whose socioeconomic index is equal or below 70 000.

In addition, person is considered to be insolvent and has right to use the legal services on the state’s expense  in case he/she is a member of a family registered in the unified database of socially vulnerable families, whose socioeconomic index is equal or below 100 000 and belongs to one of the categories listed below: 

• Member of a multi-child family with more than 3 children under age of 18;
• War and the Military Veterans;
• Person with limited capacity status under age of 18;
• Adults with significant and severe expression of disabilities;
• A person with significant, severe or moderate expression of disabilities, in case it started from childhood;
• Orphan under the age of 18;
• People displaced as a result of the aggression by The Russian Federation against Georgia;

The legal services can be provided in special circumstances to those people who are not registered in the unified database of socially vulnerable families but due to difficult social-economical condition cannot afford to cover the expenses of legal assistance. This is regulated by the Decision #27 of the Legal Aid Service Board adopted on September 9, 2015. This condition applies to the persons who belong to the following categories:

• Persons who met the criteria of insolvency and their data is available at the archives of unified database of socially vulnerable families;
• Persons whose difficult social-economical condition is proved by the certificate issued by the local self-governing institutions;
• Persons with incurable and serious disease;
• Single mother who has juvenile children;
• Person acknowledged as a victim of political repressions;
• Pensioner;
• Lawyer employed by the Legal Aid Service, his/her family member and relative;
• Family who lost bread-winner;
• Beneficiaries of the Program on Rehabilitation and Resocialization of Former Prisoners of  LEPL “Crime Prevention Center”;
• Beneficiaries of international humanitarian union “Catharsis” (Charity House).