Will I be fined the first time?

No. Part 1 of Article 55⁶ provides for a single sanction — a warning issued to the person. The fine of 2,000 lari arises only where the same act is committed repeatedly. At the first stage, therefore, the priority is to stop the use or to regularise a right to it.

How soon does a further act count as "repeated"?

The article does not set that period. It states only that the same act, committed repeatedly, is punished by a fine of 2,000 lari. The question is resolved on the file of the particular case and under the general provisions of the Code, which is one reason to keep the paperwork from the first warning.

What happens if the 2,000 lari fine goes unpaid?

Under the note to the article, non-payment within the period defined by Article 290(1) of the Code brings a surcharge equal to the fine itself — 2,000 lari of fine plus 2,000 lari of surcharge. If both amounts remain unpaid 30 days after the surcharge is assessed, a measure securing payment is applied in the manner established by Georgian legislation.

Does this article apply in Tbilisi?

No. Article 55⁶ expressly excludes the municipality of the city of Tbilisi; it concerns municipally owned plots on the territory of other municipalities. If the plot is in Tbilisi, classification under this article is wrong, and that is itself a ground to raise on appeal.

I have used the strip for years without anyone objecting. Does that help?

The article says nothing about long use creating a right, and it penalises use without a land-use right regardless of how long it has continued. What can help is a document — a lease or other agreement with the municipality — or evidence that the plot is not in municipal ownership at all. Length of use on its own is not an answer the article recognises.

Unauthorised occupation of municipal land outside Tbilisi (Art. 55⁶)

Who Article 55⁶ applies to

Article 55⁶ of the Administrative Offences Code of Georgia governs a narrow and precisely bounded situation: the unauthorised occupation of a land plot owned by a municipality on that municipality's territory, and/or its use without a land-use right. The exception is stated in the heading of the article itself — it does not extend to the territory of the municipality of the city of Tbilisi. Before the sanction matters at all, two things must be established: that the plot lies outside Tbilisi, and that it is in municipal ownership.

The article covers two acts and links them with "and/or": unauthorised occupation of the plot, and use of it without a land-use right. In practice this reaches situations such as fencing off municipal land, storing materials on it, setting up parking or a trading point, cultivating it, or simply absorbing it into an adjoining private plot. It is common for someone to have used such a strip of ground for years and to learn only when the protocol is drawn up that it belongs to the municipality.

The consolidated text of the article records an amendment made by Law No. 5297 of 26 November 2019. The two acts are joined by "and/or", which means both need not be established at once — unauthorised occupation of the plot is enough on its own, and so is use of it without a right. The article refers to the liable subject only as "the person" and draws no separate distinction between natural and legal persons.

What the sanction is

The article builds liability in two steps and does not reach for money on the first occasion:

Part 1 — unauthorised occupation and/or use without a right results in a warning being issued to the person;
Part 2 — the same act, committed repeatedly, results in a fine of 2,000 lari.

That structure has a practical consequence. The decision taken in the first case is the very fact that makes the second one expensive, so a warning is not a document to be filed away and forgotten: its content and its lawfulness deserve the same attention a fine would get. The article does not define the period within which a further act counts as a repeated one, and it does not provide a separate, still higher amount for a third or subsequent occasion.

The surcharge and enforcement of payment

A note to the article deals separately with what happens once the fine goes unpaid. If a fine imposed under part 2 is not paid within the period laid down by Article 290(1) of the Code, a surcharge is imposed in the amount of that same fine. For instance, an unpaid fine of 2,000 lari attracts a surcharge of 2,000 lari, so the total obligation rises to 4,000 lari.

The next stage is harsher still. If the fine and the surcharge are not paid within 30 days of the surcharge being assessed, a measure securing payment of the fine and the surcharge is applied to the offender in the manner established by Georgian legislation. The article does not list which specific measures those are — they are set out in other legislation. That 30-day window is therefore the point at which the response is still within your own control.

When the offender cannot be identified

The first paragraph of the note covers a separate situation: where the identity of the offender cannot be established, the authorised body has the right to take measures aimed at eliminating the offence. In other words, the impossibility of naming a particular person does not mean the position on the ground stays as it is — the breach on the plot may be removed even where no protocol is drawn up against anyone. That matters especially if property of yours is standing on municipal land. The note confers a right on the body rather than an obligation, and it does not list which measures are meant — that is governed by the situation and by other legislation. So if your belongings or a structure of yours are on the plot, it is better to approach the municipality yourself before measures are taken.

What you can do about it

A defence normally follows three questions: is the plot genuinely in municipal ownership, are you the person using it, and does a document exist that grants you a right of use? Where the case is classified under part 2, a further point is checked separately — whether the first act was in fact established. A lawyer generally tests that chain, and works on the following material:

the cadastral extract and the registered boundaries of the plot;
any lease, use or other agreement concluded with the municipality;
the earlier warning or decision on which the finding of repetition rests;
dated photographs showing the actual use of the ground;
proof of payment, if the fine has already been paid.

Bring a complete copy of the protocol and the decision with their annexes to the consultation, and the file from the first case as well if you have it. Fixing the dates matters: on what day the document was served on you, and when time began to run. Whether an appeal is still open, and whether the surcharge can still be avoided, both depend on those dates. If the use can be stopped, recording that promptly — items removed, fencing taken down, captured in dated photographs — is useful material in the case itself.