Zurab Adeishvili (born July 27, 1972) is a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 lawyer and politician, currently the Minister of Justice of Georgia

Ministry of Justice (Georgia)

The Ministry of Justice of Georgia is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Georgia in charge of regulating activities in the justice system, overseeing the public prosecutor, maintaining the legal system and public order, protection of the public and instituting law reforms in Georgia...

 since November 2008.

Early life

Adeishvili was born in the village of Mtisdziri in Qvareli district, then-Soviet Georgia. He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Tbilisi State University

Tbilisi State University

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University , better known as Tbilisi State University , is a university established on 8 February 1918 in Tbilisi, Georgia. TSU is the oldest university in the whole Caucasus region...

 in 1994 and continued his training as a jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

 at the Institute of State and Law in Tbilisi, Georgia and the University of Groningen

University of Groningen

The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. He served as the leading specialist on constitutional law for the Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...

 from 1996 and 1999. He then worked in the NGO sector (such as the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and the Liberty Institute

Liberty Institute (Georgia)

Liberty Institute is a Georgian research and advocacy organization affiliated with Ilia Chavchavadze State University.Liberty has always been the cornerstone of established Georgian values. It has been transformed into classical liberal tradition by Ilia Chavchavadze...

) and briefly practised law until becoming a Member of Parliament on President

President of Georgia

The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...

 Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...

-led Union of Citizens of Georgia

Union of Citizens of Georgia

The Union of Citizens of Georgia is a centre-left political party established by Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia between 1992-2003 and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia...

 (UCG) party ticket in November 1999.

Political career

Adeishvili was a member of an influential and vocal, but still a minority group of the UCG faction, dubbed as “reformers”, which was led by Zurab Zhvania

Zurab Zhvania

Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...

 and Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...

 and called for more radical and Western

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

-oriented political reforms.

At the end of 2001, when the CUG was in the process of collapse, Adeishvili joined Saakashvili’s New National Movement and became member of its parliamentary affiliate, the Faction for Democratic Reforms, which were in opposition to Shevardnadze’s government.

After the bloodless “Rose Revolution

Rose Revolution

The "Revolution of Roses" was a change of power in Georgia in November 2003, which took place after having widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections...

” in November 2003 toppled down Shevardnadze and swept the “reformers” to power, Adeishvili served successively as Minister of Justice (December 2003 – February 2004), Minister for State Security (February–June 2004), Prosecutor General (June 2004 – January 2008), and Head of Administration of President of Georgia (January–November 2008). As an influential member in the government and a close ally of President Saakashvili, Adeishvili has become a subject of criticism from Georgian opposition, especially during his tenure as Prosecutor General. In the October 2008 cabinet

Cabinet of Georgia

The Cabinet of Georgia is an executive council of government ministers in Georgia. It is headed by the Prime Minister of Georgia. In the cases of utmost importance, the meetings may be led by the President of Georgia . The first Cabinet of Georgia was formed by Noe Zhordania in the Democratic...

 reshuffle, Adeishvili was again put in charge of Ministry of Justice which had recently been merged with the Prosecutor General’s Office. In his new capacity, Adeishvili said liberalization of the criminal code

Criminal Code

A criminal code is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law...

 would be one of his priorities.

External links

• Zurab Adeishvili’s biography, Ministry of Justice of Georgia