New York, August 6, 2026 — The Human Rights Institute’s TrialWatch Project is pleased to welcome the University of Georgia as a TrialWatch Clinical Network partner. As part of this collaboration, the CLS HRI TrialWatch team travelled to Tbilisi on June 12–13 for a two-day training with students and supervisors at the University of Georgia. The training brought together around 12 participants to discuss trial monitoring, fair trial standards under international human rights law, and TrialWatch’s theory of change.

Ana Khurtsidze, Dean of the Law School at the University of Georgia, welcomed the collaboration, noting that the University was “delighted to partner with TrialWatch and to offer students the opportunity to engage with fair trial standards through such a practical and meaningful program.

Reflecting on the training, Mariam Gelbakhiani, a student at the University of Georgia, said: “The training was highly informative, engaging, and well-structured. The trainers fostered active participation throughout both sessions, and every topic addressed was directly relevant to current realities and challenges in the field of human rights.” She added that, through practical examples from different countries, she gained “a deeper understanding of how effective court monitoring can contribute to the protection of human rights and drive meaningful change.” 

TrialWatch is a Clooney Foundation for Justice initiative that monitors criminal trials globally, exposing unfair trials and challenging laws that are repeatedly weaponized against freedom of speech in the courts. Columbia Law School is a partner in TrialWatch and serves as the hub for its Clinical Network. TrialWatch is deeply grateful to its partners at the University of Georgia for their collaboration, hospitality, and commitment to expanding opportunities for students to engage in human rights practice. For CLS HRI, the partnership reflects its broader commitment to supporting clinical legal education and the next generation of practitioners fluent in rule of law and fair trial rights. Tejal Jesrani, Director of TrialWatch at the Human Rights Institute, said: “We are very grateful for the opportunity to work with such an engaged group of students and supervisors in Tbilisi. Trial monitoring can be a powerful tool for connecting legal education with human rights practice, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration.”

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For more information about HRI TrialWatch Project, please visit: 

https://hri.law.columbia.edu/our-work/equality-and-justice/trialwatch-project 

For more on CFJ’s global work, visit: https://cfj.org/trialwatch.

The Human Rights Institute advances international human rights through education, advocacy, fact-finding, research, scholarship, and critical reflection. We work in partnership with advocates, communities, and organizations pushing for social change to develop and strengthen the human rights legal framework and mechanisms, promote justice and accountability for human rights violations, and build and amplify collective power.