What Article 46¹¹ regulates
Article 46¹¹ of the Code of Georgia on Administrative Offences establishes administrative liability for breaching the ban on advertising the need for and the availability of human organs, tissues and cells, human organ donation, as well as the medical institution performing human organ transplantation and healthcare personnel, when such advertising is distributed through print mass media or electronic means, including the Internet. The provision gives statutory form to a clear policy choice: donation and transplantation must operate exclusively within the procedures fixed by special laws and under state control, while the promotion of this field through mass communication channels is prohibited.
This page explains in plain language which actions are treated as an offence under the article, what fines are fixed by its first and second parts, what the article deliberately leaves to other provisions of the Code, and when it is worth seeking legal support at an early stage. Every explanation below is anchored in the text of the article itself: the prohibited subjects of advertising, the channels of distribution and the fine amounts are described exactly as the legislator fixed them, and no figure on this page goes beyond the content of the article.
Which advertisements are prohibited
Under the first part of the article, an administrative offence is committed by advertising the following subjects through print mass media or electronic means, including the Internet:
- the need for and the availability of human organs, tissues and cells;
- human organ donation;
- the medical institution performing human organ transplantation and the healthcare personnel.
The channel of distribution is regulated just as strictly as the subject matter. The ban covers both print and electronic mass media, and the legislator expressly mentions the Internet so that no one can argue that online publications fall outside the prohibition. Any material placed in these channels and devoted to the subjects listed above should therefore be assessed against the article before publication.
Each element of the list has its own practical meaning. The first covers messages about the need for organs, tissues or cells and about their availability. The second covers the promotion of donation itself as a practice. The third covers the promotion of the institutions that perform transplantation and of the healthcare personnel involved in that activity. When assessing a concrete publication, it is useful to determine first which of these subjects it actually concerns.
The statutory exception
The prohibition is not absolute. The first part of the article carves out the corresponding measures provided for by the Law of Georgia on the Transplantation of Human Organs and the Law of Georgia on the Use of Human Tissues and Cells. Such measures are not treated as advertising for the purposes of the article and do not attract administrative liability under it.
In practice, the boundary between a permitted measure and prohibited advertising is the most contested point in cases under this article: everything that turns out to be outside the corridor allowed by the special laws may be qualified as prohibited advertising. The assessment of a concrete publication therefore depends on its content and purpose, and a legal analysis before publication is considerably more useful than an argument after a fine has been imposed.
Fine amounts
Article 46¹¹ fixes two sanctions, and each of them is recorded in a separate part of the article:
- commission of the act provided for by the first part — a fine of 5,000 GEL;
- the same act committed repeatedly — a fine of 10,000 GEL.
These two amounts do not alternate: the case materials must establish whether the act was committed for the first time or repeatedly, and the corresponding sanction follows from that conclusion. The criteria of repeat commission are determined by other provisions of the Code, so the assessment depends on the factual circumstances of each case.
What the article does not regulate
Article 46¹¹ contains no rules on who draws up the administrative offence report, which body examines the case, and according to which procedure and within what time limits an imposed fine may be appealed — these matters are governed by other provisions of the Code. Nor does the norm describe every possible form of advertising: it defines the prohibited subjects and the channels, while the qualification of a concrete publication is entrusted to the body examining the case. If a fine has already been imposed, the first practical steps are to study the case materials, verify the qualification of the act under the correct part of the article and prepare a well-grounded position for appeal.
History of the provision and its entry into force
The text of the article refers to the Law of Georgia No. 3622 of 1 November 2023 and the Law of Georgia No. 130 of 13 December 2024. The text is accompanied by a note on entry into force: the amendment is to enter into force on 1 September 2026. Anyone working in this field is advised to monitor the current wording of the norm and the moment the amended rule becomes effective, because the applicability of the updated provision depends on it.
How Legal.ge can help
The Legal.ge team supports medical institutions, media outlets and participants of the advertising market in matters connected with Article 46¹¹. We assess whether a planned or already published item constitutes advertising prohibited by the article, explain the interplay between the administrative prohibition and the special laws on transplantation and on the use of tissues and cells, and prepare positions for the examination of a case and for appeal against an imposed fine. Timely legal assessment of a publication costs far less than the fine and the consequences that follow it.