Health, Child Protection & Social Sector

Failure by a medical institution to report a woman who has given birth or an abandoned infant (Art. 172⁵)

Whom must the administration of a medical institution inform under Article 172⁵?

The guardianship and custodianship body. The time limits for the notification are not fixed by the article and are determined by other norms.

In which three situations is notification mandatory?

When a woman in labour is admitted without an identity document, when such a woman leaves the institution by secretly departing from it, and when the mother abandons her infant.

On whom and in what amount is the fine imposed?

The offence entails a fine of 5,000 GEL imposed on the legal entity.

Does the article contain an increased sanction for a repeated breach?

No. Article 172⁵ consists of a single part and does not provide a separate increased sanction for a repeated offence.

5 min·22 Aug 2026

What Article 172⁵ regulates

Article 172⁵ of the Code of Georgia on Administrative Offences imposes liability on the administration of a medical institution for failing to inform the guardianship and custodianship body about a woman in labour admitted without an identity document, about her secret departure from the institution, or about the abandonment of an infant by the mother. The norm is aimed at ensuring that the guardianship and custodianship body learns in due time about the difficult situation of the mother and the newborn and is able to react to it.

This page explains in detail what duty this article imposes and on whom, which three circumstances require notification, what fine applies and against whom, and what the norm itself leaves unregulated. Every explanation is anchored in the text of the article, and no detail on this page goes beyond its content.

The material is intended for the management and administrative staff of medical institutions, as well as for lawyers dealing with administrative offences. Knowing the terms of the article allows an institution to review its internal procedures in due time and to organise its work so that the duty to inform does not remain dependent on chance.

Whom the administration of a medical institution must inform

The recipient of the information is named directly in the norm: the guardianship and custodianship body. As its very name suggests, this body deals with matters connected with guardianship and custodianship; its precise competence is defined by separate legal regulations. The essence of the article is that the medical institution — the first instance to encounter such a situation — must not stay silent and must pass the information on in due time to the body that responds to it.

It is important that this duty is imposed on the administration of the medical institution — the structure that manages the institution’s activities. The internal distribution of tasks between clinical staff and administration is an internal matter of each institution, but the legal liability scheme of the norm is linked to the subject named in the norm.

Updated: 7 Nov 2026