What Article 143 covers
Article 143 of the Georgian Code of Administrative Offences brings two different acts under one and the same sanction. The first is breaching the rules on the protection of communications lines and installations. The second is damaging line and cable communications installations. In the text of the article these two grounds sit alongside each other rather than one replacing the other. Damage is named separately, which means liability does not depend on something physically breaking: if the protection rules were breached, that is enough on its own. This is what makes the provision unexpected for many people who encounter it. A protocol can be drawn up even where no connection was interrupted and no harm is visible on site, because the conduct the article targets in that limb is the breach of the rules themselves rather than its consequences.
The sanction the article sets
Article 143 splits the fine into two categories. For citizens it provides for a fine of between one and five minimum amounts of labour remuneration. For officials it provides for a fine of between five and ten minimum amounts of labour remuneration. In both cases this is a range rather than a fixed sum, which distinguishes this provision sharply from those articles of the Code that state a single figure. Note also what the article does not do: it does not express the sanction in lari at all, only in minimum amounts of labour remuneration. The actual sum you owe therefore has to be read from the decision served on you, not from the text of the article. The formulation is an old one: the article carries a reference to the Law of 17 March 1994 No. 436, by which it was amended, and no later amending law is recorded against the text.
Citizen or official — the dividing line
Under this article the classification of the person directly changes the outcome, which is not true of many other provisions of the Code. The two ranges meet at exactly five minimum amounts: five is the ceiling for a citizen and the floor for an official. Put differently, the lightest sanction available against an official is equal to the heaviest available against a citizen. That makes the classification one of the most important points of dispute in practice. It is not a formal detail. It determines which of the two ranges the deciding authority is working inside before it considers anything about the facts, and a case argued on the assumption that the wrong range applies is being argued in the wrong place.
Why the range matters
When the law sets a range rather than a single amount, the circumstances of the case have a real effect on the final figure. In articles with a fixed sanction the only available argument is whether the act was committed at all. Here a second layer appears: where inside the range your case should sit. That changes what is worth preparing. It is not only what you deny that matters, but what you can document in your favour — how the works were organised, what was checked beforehand, what was done once the problem came to light. Article 143 does not itself list which circumstances affect the amount. That is not written into this provision, and it is a matter of assessment on the facts rather than a checklist you can work through in advance.
Where a lawyer changes the outcome
A defence normally runs along several lines at once: whether it has been established that the protection rules were breached, and which rules specifically; where damage is alleged, whether it is genuinely attributable to your actions; whether the category of person has been correctly determined; and finally what should influence the amount within the applicable range. A lawyer's contribution is to separate these questions instead of answering them as one, and to assemble documentary material for each. What the article is silent about matters too. Article 143 draws no distinction between intent and negligence, and it says nothing about compensating the network operator for its loss — that falls outside this provision and has to be dealt with separately. The article also names neither the body that hears the case nor the deadline for challenging the decision, so the document served on you is what you should check for both of those things first.
What to gather before the consultation
Much of what decides these cases is recorded on site and changes quickly, so collecting the material should not be postponed. Prepare the following where you have it:
- the administrative offence protocol and the decision imposing the fine, with the date of service;
- the works documentation, if work was under way on site: the permit, the work order, the design, the site log;
- correspondence, if you requested information about the location of the lines;
- photographs and video of the site before the works began and afterwards;
- documents establishing your status — whether you are a citizen or an official for the purposes of the article;
- any record showing what measures were taken to protect the lines.