What Article 174¹⁸ of the Administrative Offences Code covers
Article 174¹⁸ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia establishes administrative liability for desecrating the official symbol of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or another international organisation, as well as for desecrating the flag or the coat of arms of a foreign state. The provision applies where the act does not give rise to criminal liability; in that case the matter proceeds under the administrative track and is subject to the fines fixed in this article. In practice, the very same physical act can fall under different legal regimes, and choosing the correct qualification is often the decisive step — one that is best taken with a lawyer.
The provision protects symbols that carry official public significance in Georgia's international relations. It matters both to individuals facing a first-time charge and to persons who have already been held administratively liable under the same article, because the sanction in the second part of the article is substantially harsher.
Which symbols are protected and under what conditions
The first part of Article 174¹⁸ protects two groups of symbols. The first group is the official symbol of the European Union, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or of any other international organisation of which Georgia is a member. The second group is the flag or the coat of arms of a foreign state with which Georgia has diplomatic relations.
There is an essential condition: the protected symbol must have been erected or displayed by a public institution. The liability therefore does not attach to symbols in every conceivable setting; it targets those that are officially presented by a public institution. If your case involves a different configuration of facts, whether the article applies at all is a separate question that a lawyer should examine on the basis of the case file.
What sanction the article provides
Under the first part of the article, a physical person who desecrates a protected symbol is fined 1,000 GEL. This is the base sanction, applied where the act is assessed under this article without the aggravating configuration described in the second part.
The second part provides a markedly stricter liability for the case where a person who is already an administratively liable person commits the same administrative offence defined in this article. In that event the physical person is fined 2,000 GEL or is subjected to administrative imprisonment for up to 15 days. The upper boundary of the sanction therefore rises significantly, and a fine may be replaced by deprivation of liberty for a short term.
What to bear in mind if a case has been brought against you
First, Article 174¹⁸ applies only where the act does not trigger criminal liability. How the administrative provision relates to the criminal law in a concrete fact pattern is a distinct legal question and should be assessed by a specialist. Secondly, the amounts of the fine are stated directly in the article — 1,000 or 2,000 GEL depending on the configuration — and any issues about non-payment, additional charges, and enforcement measures are governed by other provisions of the Code and of Georgian legislation.
You also retain the procedural rights of a party to administrative proceedings. The drawing up of the protocol, the assessment of evidence, and the procedure for appealing the decision are regulated by the general norms of the Code of Administrative Offences. At each of these stages, participation of a lawyer frequently determines whether the qualification of the act is successfully challenged.
How we can help
The lawyers on the legal.ge platform assist at every stage of an administrative case under Article 174¹⁸: we assess the qualification of the act, verify whether the protected symbol was in fact erected or displayed by a public institution, help you study the case materials, represent you before the reviewing authority, and prepare an appeal if the adopted decision is unfavourable. Contact us for a consultation both before the case is opened and after a fine has been imposed.
How the circle of protected symbols is determined in practice
In practical terms, several factual questions become decisive when such a case is examined. The first is which concrete symbol was desecrated and whether it belongs to either of the groups protected by the article: is it the official symbol of an international organisation of which Georgia is a member, or does it belong to a state with which Georgia maintains diplomatic relations. The second is who erected or displayed the symbol and in what manner: the article expressly requires that this be done by a public institution. The third is the form of the act itself: desecration can be carried out in different ways, and in each case the evidence recorded in the file — witness statements, recordings, material traces — has to be assessed.
It is equally important to keep the structure of the article in view. The first part governs the commission of the offence in general terms, while the second part addresses the situation where the same offence is committed by a person who is already an administratively liable person. That circumstance raises the sanction from 1,000 GEL to 2,000 GEL and opens the possibility of administrative imprisonment. Which part of the article a concrete act falls under depends on the facts of the case, and assessing that correctly requires qualified legal analysis of the file.