What Article 182³ regulates
Article 182³ of the Georgian Code of Administrative Offences deals with breaches of the rules on the circulation of signal weapons. The provision is comparatively new: its current wording rests on Law of Georgia No. 452 of 4 April 2025. That recency explains much of what happens in practice: people often hold a signal weapon that has been in the household for years, in circumstances where a permit had never been in question. The article does not define the term itself. What counts as a signal weapon does not follow from Article 182³ and is a matter for other legislation, so where that is disputed the answer comes from the grounds the report relies on.
The article covers two situations: holding a signal weapon without the relevant permit, and passing such a weapon to someone else or otherwise alienating it. The fine is the same for each; the confiscation regime is not, and that difference is often the point that matters most.
The two base offences
The first two parts of the article read as follows:
- acquiring, keeping or carrying a signal weapon without the relevant permit — a fine of 600 GEL, with or without confiscation of the weapon;
- unlawful transfer or alienation of a signal weapon — a fine of 600 GEL, with confiscation of the weapon.
The fine is 600 GEL in both cases, but the text draws a clear line on confiscation. Under part 1 confiscation is possible without being obligatory — the article says expressly "with or without confiscation". Part 2 contains no such qualification. So when you read the decision, first establish which part was applied: it determines not only the sum, but whether the weapon stays with you. Look for the entry showing whether confiscation was imposed as a penalty — the 30-day note described below turns on exactly that.
How repetition escalates the sanction
Article 182³ deals with repetition separately and adds two further steps:
- commission of an offence under part 1 or part 2 by a person already penalised under part 1 or part 2 — a fine of 1,000 GEL, with confiscation of the weapon;
- commission of an offence under part 1 or part 2 by a person already penalised under part 3, or under part 4 itself — a fine of 2,000 GEL and restriction of weapon-related rights for a period of 2 years, with confiscation of the weapon.
At both steps confiscation is written in without qualification, and at the final step a 2-year rights restriction is added on top of the money. Because each step depends on an earlier penalty, what decides the step is whether that penalty exists and which part imposed it: the same question settles whether the figure is 600, 1,000 or 2,000 GEL, and whether the 2-year restriction of weapon-related rights is added on top.
The 30-day window to obtain a permit
The most practically useful part of Article 182³ sits in its concluding note. Where confiscation of the weapon was not applied as an administrative penalty in a case under part 1, the person is given a period of 30 days in which to obtain the relevant permit. During that period no administrative liability is imposed on them for acquiring, keeping or carrying the signal weapon without that permit.
For instance: a person is fined 600 GEL under part 1 and the weapon is not confiscated. From that point they have 30 days to obtain the permit, and within that window they do not answer again for the same keeping of the weapon. Two conditions are built into the note and both must hold — it concerns only an offence under part 1, and only a case in which confiscation was not applied as a penalty. The article does not state what follows if the permit is not obtained inside the 30 days; the text speaks only to the exclusion of liability within that period. If you have already filed an application for the permit, keep the dated confirmation of filing: showing that you acted inside the window rests on exactly that kind of document.
What to check, and where a lawyer changes things
Begin with the part of the decision that states the classification. Check three things: which part was applied, whether confiscation was imposed as a penalty, and whether an earlier penalty exists where repetition is alleged. Those three decide whether the 30-day note applies to your situation at all — usually the question with the most at stake.
A decision in an administrative-offence case can be challenged under the general rules of the Code; Article 182³ sets out no separate procedure of its own. The deadline and the body to address are normally on the decision itself — check both straight away. No lawyer can promise an outcome, but the defence here is built on two questions: whether the classification is right, and whether confiscation was lawfully applied.
What to prepare
Before the meeting, gather:
- the administrative-offence report and the decision, in full;
- anything documenting where the weapon came from — a receipt, a contract, other paperwork;
- evidence of steps towards obtaining a permit — any application filed, and its date;
- details of any earlier penalties, if there have been any.
Dates carry unusual weight here: the note gives 30 days to obtain the permit, but the article does not itself state the moment from which those 30 days run.