One of the areas of work of the Legal Aid Service is legal aid in cases of non-voluntary isolation of persons with tuberculosis.  

The Legal Aid Service offers free legal consultations to persons with tuberculosis to protect their rights. They are entitled to both person-to-person and telephone/online counselling. The Legal Aid Service provides legal assistance in a dispute over non-voluntary isolation of a person with tuberculosis if the latter is insolvent and the case falls into the category of complex and important cases. 

The court orders to place a patient in a medical clinic against his/her will if the latter has been diagnosed with a contagious form of tuberculosis and refuses to undergo treatment and examination or/and was treated for tuberculosis but has prematurely quitted the treatment. Non-voluntary isolation is an extreme measure applied only in cases when all means have been exhausted to convince the patient with a contagious form of tuberculosis to undergo required examination and voluntary treatment and the spread of the infectious disease cannot be avoided.

The patient shall take part in the proceedings if his/her participation in the trial does not put other persons’ health at risk. A lawyer shall also take part in the proceedings. If the patient does not have financial means to hire a lawyer, the court has to assign a state-funded lawyer based on the patient’s will.

A patient or his/her legal representative may apply to the Legal Aid Service with a request to appoint a lawyer.

During non-voluntary isolation a patient has a right to:

• accommodation, food, means of personal hygiene, clothes and medical services in accordance with the requirements for controlling tuberculosis;
• meet family members and a lawyer on the premises of a medical service provider where his/her non-voluntary isolation takes places, also meet other persons upon approval of the medical service provider;
• apply to the court with a motion to terminate his/her non-voluntary isolation, if he/she believes that the requirements established in the legislation are violated during isolation or the grounds for isolation have ceased to exist. The court rules on termination of the non-voluntary isolation of a patient in 72 hours from the moment of receiving the motion. In addition to other circumstances the court considers whether the patient voluntarily agreed to restart treating tuberculosis during the period of non-voluntary isolation. If the court makes a decision to terminate the patient’s non-voluntary isolation, he/she continues treatment for tuberculosis under the supervision of a medical service provider;
• receive parcels and money, receive information from mass media, have access to books, telephone, internet, and correspondence.

The state provides social assistance in the form of monetary benefits to patients, citizens of Georgia during the entire course of ambulatory treatment in order to support the regime of treatment for tuberculosis developed by the Ministry.  Patients with recurrent tuberculosis receive monetary benefits for up to six months, and patients with resistant tuberculosis receive benefits for up to 20 months.

Legal Acts

• Constitution of Georgia
• Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Law of Georgia on Tuberculosis Control
• Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia
• Government Decree #162 on the Value and Procedure for Monetary Benefits to Patients, Citizens of Georgia to Support the Regime for Treating Tuberculosis, April 1, 2016
• Law of Georgia on Legal Aid
• Law of Georgia on Advocates
• Government Degree #424 on the Rule for Determining a Person’s Insolvency
• Legal Aid Board Decision #20 on Approval of the Regulation of the Legal Entity of Public Law - Legal Aid Service
• Legal Aid Board Decision #27 on Approval of Criteria for the Provision of Legal Aid envisaged in Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the Law of Georgia on Legal Aid
• Professional Code of Ethics for Lawyers 

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