A/HRC/31/15 function. Only the High Council of Justice would be able to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges. Automatic allocation of cases to individual judges would be introduced and judges could be moved to different courts only on the basis of their consent. Disciplinary proceedings would also be refined. 61. Georgia noted that, under the recently adopted Juvenile Justice Code, cases involving juveniles would be handled by specially trained judges, prosecutors, probation officers and other professionals. Mediation and alternative sanctions to imprisonment would also be used. 62. Georgia stated that it attached particular importance to the accountability and oversight of criminal proceedings. That function was implemented by the Chief Prosecutor’s office. Since 2014, thorough reform had been under way. For example, the Council would be vested with powers to conduct investigations of the Chief Prosecutor, if necessary. 63. Georgia reiterated that combating torture had become a top priority and enumerated its own observations concerning the elimination of systematic torture since 2012 and the findings of the Special Rapporteur. In May 2015, a national anti-torture action plan had been adopted. Georgia recognized that systemic work on the issues needed to continue. 64. Turning to the issue of pretrial detention, Georgia underlined the introduction of the principle of periodic and automatic review of pretrial detention, under which a judge had to review such detention at least once every two months. Georgia highlighted the reduction in the use of pretrial detention from 54 per cent of cases in 2010 to 32 per cent in 2014. 65. In relation to prison conditions, Georgia highlighted the improvements and the positive assessments of international mechanisms, including the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. Problems related to overcrowding and health care were being tackled. The prison population had decreased from 24,000 to 10,200 people, and minimum space per inmate had increased from 2 m2 to 4 m2. Improvements in health-care infrastructure and services had led to a decrease in mortality in prisons, from 144 deaths in 2011 to 11 deaths in October 2015. Similarly, the number of new cases of tuberculosis had decreased from 601 in 2012 to 49 in 2015. Numerous programmes were being implemented, including by international and local civil society actors. The number of convicted juveniles had fallen to 25 and they had full access to education provided by a public school. Since 2012, two prisons had been closed down and numerous others had been refurbished. Halfway houses had been introduced, with the goal of preparing prisoners for release. 66. Turning to non-discrimination, Georgia noted that the new anti-discrimination law included a non-exhaustive list of the grounds of discrimination and outlined the activities of the Public Defender in monitoring implementation of the law. 67. Georgia highlighted its close cooperation with United Nations agencies in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 68. Georgia shared the concerns expressed about gender-based violence. Since 2014, the inter-agency council on domestic violence had restarted its work with a renewed composition. The group had the power to grant the status of victim of domestic violence. Subsequent to relevant training, the group had become operational in 2015. Furthermore, an advisory council, comprising civil society and international organizations, including the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), had been set up. New action plans would be developed in 2016. Georgia provided statistics on the reporting and prosecution of cases which indicated the progress achieved with the measures taken to date. 9