What Article 139⁵ regulates
Article 139⁵ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia establishes administrative liability for a carrier company's failure to fulfil an obligation established by the Georgian Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons. The norm concerns organisations involved in the carriage of persons: a carrier company that transports foreigners or stateless persons is itself responsible for the performance of its transport and documentary obligations. The purpose of the law is clear — the state receives information about persons entering the country and being carried across it, and the carrier is the link that ensures the completeness of that information. The norm thus embraces all three principal modes of carriage — land, sea and air — and attaches a separate fine to each of them.
Who is the liable person
When the offence is committed, the fine is imposed on the carrier company or on the representative of the carrier company. The subject of liability may therefore be either the organisation or the concrete person acting in the company's name. This determination is also of practical importance: a violation committed by a representative is not split into a separate element, and the fine is calculated under the same norm.
Fine amounts by type of transport
The law scales the amount of the fine according to the type of transport. In the case of land transport the fine is 300 GEL. In the case of sea transport it is 1,000 GEL, and in the case of air transport — 1,500 GEL. This differentiation stems from the scale of carriage and the degree of risk: controlling persons carried by aircraft or ships is more complex, and accordingly the demand for undisturbed performance of obligations is valued more strictly.
The scope of the norm
The note to the article determines that the operation of this norm does not extend to one specific case provided for by the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons — the obligation provided for by the first sub-paragraph of the corresponding paragraph of that law. When a concrete case is examined, it must therefore always be verified, on the one hand, which obligation has been breached and, on the other, whether it falls within that exception. This is precisely the kind of question where the involvement of a qualified specialist often changes the outcome.
The final amount of the fine depends directly on the mode of transport by which the carriage took place: 300 GEL in the case of land transport, 1,000 GEL in the case of sea transport and 1,500 GEL in the case of air transport. Accordingly, one of the frequent subjects of dispute is precisely which mode was used in the qualification. Difficult situations arise when a route combines several modes — in such cases the correctness of the qualification is especially important and requires the assessment of a specialist. When a fine is imposed, always verify that the type of transport recorded is the one by which the carriage actually took place, since a mistake at this stage changes the amount several times over.
How the administrative proceedings run
The procedure for drawing up the protocol, the bodies participating in the proceedings and the deadlines for appealing the decision are governed by other provisions of the Code, and are therefore not examined separately on this page. What matters practically is the following: the documents concerning the offence must be studied immediately, any mistake in the determination of the type of transport must be excluded, and every circumstance that may relate to the exception must be recorded. It is at precisely this stage that the chances of correcting an incorrect qualification are greatest, since at later stages revisiting a case becomes considerably more difficult.
To avoid the fine, a company needs three things: first, clear internal procedures defining who checks the company's obligations and how often; second, instruction of the personnel, so that every employee knows that a violation is fined and that liability may also be imposed on the representative; and third, retention of documentation which, if necessary, confirms the performance of the obligations. Such a system not only reduces the risk of fines but also strengthens the company's standing in its relations with the regulator and its partners.
Why this matters for carriers
To carrier companies this fine may at first sight appear small, but it is accompanied by other risks as well: contractual liability towards partners, reputational damage and, in the event of repeated violations, a more complicated relationship with the regulator. An additional factor is that companies involved in international carriage often have to satisfy the requirements of several jurisdictions at once, and a mistake made under the law of one country is also reflected at the level of contractual obligations under another. Proper organisation of obligations — instructing personnel, controlling documentation and conducting internal audits — systematically reduces these risks. Experience shows that the cost of prevention is invariably lower than the cumulative cost of penalties and lost business reputation.
How Legal.ge can help you
The lawyers of Legal.ge will help you determine whether a violation has been correctly qualified under this article, verify whether the exception extends to your case and protect your interests in administrative proceedings. If the proceedings have not yet started, we will also help you organise the obligations properly, so that the risk is minimised from the outset. For a detailed consultation, contact us at Legal.ge.