What Article 114⁵ regulates
Article 114⁵ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia establishes liability for breaches of the safety rules for inland waterway transport, of the navigation rules and of the requirements connected with the registration of floating vehicles. The norm concerns everyone who operates floating craft on inland waters — individual boatmen and organisations that use such equipment alike. The article unites two directions: on the one hand, the safety of navigation itself; on the other, the rules of state registration and marking that make each vehicle identifiable.
Breach of the safety and navigation rules
A breach of the safety rules for inland waterway transport entails a fine of 500 GEL, and repeated commission of the same breach — a fine of 1,000 GEL. A breach of the navigation rules on inland waters is punished by a fine of 500 GEL for a natural person and 1,000 GEL for a legal person, and on repeated commission — by 1,000 and 2,000 GEL respectively. A first violation thus doubles on repetition, and a legal person always pays a higher amount than a natural one.
The registration requirements
Operating a floating vehicle that is not registered in the Georgian state register of ships is fined 500 GEL for a natural person and 1,000 GEL for a legal person; on repeated commission the amounts rise to 1,000 and 2,000 GEL. If the state registration of the vehicle has been suspended, operating it is punished by the same amounts — 500/1,000 GEL for a first offence and 1,000/2,000 GEL on repetition. This means that the status of registration is a separate essential element: the formal existence of the equipment is not enough; its registration status in the register must always be verified.
Marking and the warning
A separate element is operating a floating vehicle on which its name and registration number are not marked. For this violation the law provides not a fine but a warning to the person — the only case in this article where a first commission is limited to a warning. On repeated commission, however, liability grows into a fine: a natural person pays 100 GEL and a legal person 200 GEL. This model shows the legislator's approach: a minor defect of marking is first corrected through a warning, but ignoring it already entails financial liability.
What to remember in practice
First, for every floating vehicle verify the fact and status of its entry in the register, since a suspended registration is punished in the same way as its absence. Second, the name and registration number must be visible and appropriate: this simple requirement is at first limited to a warning, but on repetition turns into a fine. Third, a breach of the safety rules always doubles on repetition, so after one violation a real correction is the only way to avoid a second and increased amount. The procedure for administrative proceedings is governed by other provisions of the Code and is examined separately in each concrete case.
How Legal.ge can help you
The norm extends to the widest circle of persons — most often the interested party is the owner or operator of a floating vehicle on a lake or a river: fishing and recreational craft, launches, barges and similar equipment. The rules of protection are simple: when purchasing, verify the entry in the state register; before the start of the season, re-check the registration status and do not use equipment whose registration has been suspended; arrange a visible name and number; familiarise yourself with the safety and navigation rules and corroborate their observance with documents — in the form of instructions, logs or records of checks. These steps remove the risk in both directions — breaches of safety and breaches of registration alike. An owner who keeps the documentation of the craft in order in practice almost never faces the question of which part of this article applies to him.
How Legal.ge can help you
The lawyers of Legal.ge will verify the correctness of the qualification of the violation, determine whether in your case a warning rather than a fine should have been applied, and protect your interests in the administrative proceedings. For a detailed consultation, contact us at Legal.ge.