Sopo Japaridze

Currently Ms. Japaridze is an Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues. She is also a Chairperson of the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Along other responsibilities, the Commission is in charge of coordinating the work of relevant state agencies concerning the National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. From November 2011 to November 2013, Ms. Japaridze was a Deputy Minister of Corrections. Before moving to public sector, for 10 years, Ms. Japaridze has worked for various national and international organizations as a strategic litigation lawyer taking cases before the European Court of Human Rights as well to UN treaty bodies. Sopo Japaridze holds Master’s degree in international human rights law (Essex University, United kingdom, 2009-2010) and Bachelor’s degree in law (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University).

Gocha Lordkipanidze

Mr. Lordkipanidze has been serving as a deputy Minister of Justice since 2012. He is the Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. In the past he has been a Foreign Affairs & International Law Adviser to Prime-Minister of Georgia, Adviser (then Ambassador-at-Large) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Senior Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations, New York, etc.

Mr. Lordkipanidze has been the Vice-Chairman of the 19^th meeting of the States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Vice-Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Charter and the Vice-Chairman of the 19^th meeting of the States Parties to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. He has various publications in Georgia and worldwide.