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.