Anton (Tato) Kelbakiani

The cofounder and Board Chairman of the organization, lawyer by profession, has extensive experience of working in the penitentiary and probation, juvenile justice and child welfare. Particularly:  In 2005-2006 Specialist of the Public Defender’s Justice department (main activity – monitoring of closed facilities and working on Public Defender’s report); In 2006-2009 he was the Head of Social Service Unit of the Penitentiary Department. In 2009-2012 was a deputy Head of the Penitentiary Department; In 2012-2013 Director of the Juvenile Establishment. Anton Kelbakiani is the author of Juvenile Justice Reform concept, the reform which was successfully implemented with UNICEF support and for which the UNICEF granted Anton Kelbakiani with the Certificate of Appreciation for the outstanding contributions to the Juvenile Justice System Reform. In 2010-2012 Anton Kelbakiani was a contact person for European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in Georgia, in 2009-2012 he was a member of the Interagency Coordination Council for Criminal Justice Reform in Georgia and team member of juvenile and penitentiary working groups of the same Council. In 2013-2021 he was a cofounder and Chairman of the non-governmental organization Initiative for Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Groups (In 2022 the organization was renamed to Prevention for Progress). Anton Kelbakiani is a lecturer at Ilia State University (courses – juvenile justice; social work in criminal justice; penitentiary law; probation law).