Article 173⁷ and its purpose
Article 173⁷ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia establishes administrative liability for seeking or offering a child for adoption or an adoptive parent through a public announcement. The norm protects the institution of adoption and its most vulnerable participant — the child: adoption is a state-controlled procedure in which decisions are taken on the basis of the child's interests and according to the procedure established by law. Searching for a child or an adoptive parent by public announcement bypasses that system, creates a risk of identification of the child and makes adoption resemble a private transaction — which is why the legislator treats this conduct as a separate offence.
What counts as a violation
Under the wording of the article, the administrative offence is the seeking or offering of a child for adoption or of an adoptive parent by means of a public announcement. The norm covers two directions: where someone publicly searches for a child to adopt, and where someone publicly offers a child for adoption or offers themselves as an adoptive parent. The form is not decisive — the announcement may be printed, an electronic publication, a social network or any other public format; what is decisive is the fact of publicity.
It should be noted that the norm is not directed against the idea of adoption but against its unlawful channels: the state system determines the compatibility of a child and a family through a specialised procedure, and bypassing that procedure through a public announcement in no way serves the interests of the child. The circumstances of the case therefore matter in the assessment, yet the fact of a public announcement is itself the essence of the norm.
The amount of the fine
For this violation, Article 173⁷ prescribes a fine on a citizen of one thousand minimum amounts of labour remuneration — that is, 1000 minimum amounts — while in the case of an official the fine is determined at two thousand minimum amounts of labour remuneration — that is, 2000 minimum amounts. These two tiers are established separately for a citizen and for an official, and blending them is impermissible.
The fine is expressed in minimum amounts, and converting it into lari on this page would be improper: the monetary value of a minimum amount changes over time according to the procedure established by legislation, so the correct formulation remains the one in minimum amounts. Which period's minimum amount applies in a concrete case is resolved under the rules on the imposition of penalties.
Who is liable
The article shows two circles of subjects: citizens, who pay one thousand minimum amounts, and officials, for whom a doubled fine — two thousand minimum amounts — is provided. The stricter liability of an official is explained by the higher standard of compliance with the law expected of such a person. The existence of guilt is assessed separately in each case.
Procedural questions
The drawing up of the protocol, the time limits for examining the case, the procedure for adopting the decision and the appeal procedure are not regulated directly by this article — they are determined by other provisions of the Code. Important evidence in such a case is the announcement itself — its text, the place and time of publication — as well as the circumstances of who published it and for what purpose.
Practical recommendations
If you wish to adopt a child or to offer yourself as an adoptive parent, the only safe path is the state procedure established by law: adoption is carried out through the bodies determined by the legislation of this field, and the services involved in the process cooperate with adoptive parents. Public announcements are not part of that process, and their use entails administrative liability. In case of doubt, a consultation with a lawyer or with the relevant state service will show you the correct steps.
To summarise: Article 173⁷ punishes the seeking or offering of a child for adoption or of an adoptive parent by public announcement: for a citizen a fine of one thousand minimum amounts of labour remuneration is provided, and for an official — two thousand minimum amounts. The lawful channels of adoption and the procedural order are determined by the relevant legislation and other provisions of the Code.
The modern digital environment only increases the relevance of this norm: a text published on social networks and announcement portals becomes instantly accessible to thousands of readers, and such dissemination of information about a child creates a risk of identification and vulnerability. That is why the fact of publicity in an online format also falls fully under this article.
Where an announcement has been published, the body examining the case will assess its content and context: whether it concerned adoption specifically, who the publisher was and what the purpose was. Yet the text of the norm covers both directions — seeking and offering alike — so the direction of the announcement does not remove liability.