What Article 151 of the Administrative Offences Code covers
Article 151 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia protects green plantings within the administrative boundaries of a municipality. The norm punishes the damaging, unauthorised felling and destruction of green plantings on the territory of the municipality — except for territory held in private ownership. The subject is therefore trees, shrubs and other plantings in public space, and their unauthorised felling or damaging is sanctioned.
The article contains several parts, and the sanctions differ clearly according to the circumstances: who committed the breach, what caused it, and whether it touched a boulevard, a park or a garden. Each of these details changes the amount of the fine.
The basic offence and confiscation
The basic offence — damaging, unauthorised felling or destruction of green plantings — is punished with a fine of 2,000 GEL, with or without confiscation of the instrument of the offence and with confiscation of the object of the offence. The instrument — for instance cutting equipment — may therefore be taken from the violator, and that is part of the decision.
A breach committed by an administratively punished person
Where the same act is committed by a person already administratively punished under this article, the fine rises to 5,000 GEL — with the same confiscations. This is the strictest tier of the article, and it is what makes a serious approach to the very first case necessary.
The consequence of a road accident
The article sets a separate rule for the case where damage to plantings results from a road traffic accident: the fine is then 500 GEL, with or without confiscation of the object and the instrument. A repeated commission of such a breach is punished with 1,000 GEL and the same confiscations. The qualification is thus influenced by what caused the damage — a wilful act or an accident.
Damage by a domestic animal
A separate part concerns the case where a domestic animal damages green plantings in a boulevard, a park or a garden: the owner of the animal is fined 500 GEL. Liability here shifts to the owner, but only in precisely defined places — a boulevard, a park or a garden.
How we can help
The lawyers of legal.ge will assess the qualification of the act — under which part the case proceeds and whether that is correct — verify the status of the territory (whether it is private property), the cause of the damage and the case materials, defend you before the reviewing authority and prepare an appeal. For a consultation, bring the penalty act, documents connected with the territory, photographs, and your identity or registration documents.
How the case is assessed and what a lawyer checks
The first question in this category of cases is territorial: whether the damaged planting stood on the territory of the municipality and not on private property — the article does not extend to private territory. The second question is causal: what caused the damage — a wilful act, a road accident or a domestic animal. The third is subjective: who the violator is and whether he has already been punished under this article. Framing these three questions correctly changes the fine from 5,000 GEL to 500 GEL — a tenfold difference.
The question of confiscation also matters: confiscation of the instrument is not mandatory — the wording "or without it" leaves the reviewing authority a choice. That means the retention of the instrument can also be fought for — where the value of the equipment is significant, this is a separate economic question.
Finally, note that felling with a permit is no longer punishable under this article: the notion of unauthorised felling means precisely that the felling was not allowed. Obtaining the corresponding right from the municipality in advance — for projects, construction or other needs — is the only way to avoid the risk of a fine and confiscation.
What to prepare and when to come
A consultation should take place as early as possible — ideally within days of receiving the act, before the appeal periods expire. Bring: the fine decision or act; documents evidencing the status of the territory, if you hold any; photographs of the plantings before and after, if they exist; contacts of witnesses; and, where a road accident is involved, the accident file. Each of these documents removes one possible version of the qualification and makes the sanction more precise.
And remember the proportion: the fines under this article range from 500 to 5,000 GEL, and confiscation is a separate loss. Changing the qualification by a single level reduces the fine several times over — a professional assessment here is not an expense but an investment.