Scope of the Law and Registration Organs
The law of Georgia on civil acts defines the types of civil acts and the basic conditions for their registration, for entering amendments, corrections and additions into a civil act entry, for the re-registration of a civil act, for declaring birth and death entries invalid, for the registration of birth and death, for the establishment of facts of birth and death of legal significance at a certain time and in certain circumstances, for the issue of documents confirming the registration of a civil act, and the organs competent in the field of civil acts. These rules concern every person whose birth, marriage, divorce, death, paternity establishment or adoption is registered in Georgia, and they govern how the entries related to those acts are amended and corrected.
The organs of registration of civil acts are: the public law legal entity operating within the governance of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia — the State Services Development Agency — which exercises its powers through territorial services; within the scope of delegated powers, abroad — a diplomatic representation of Georgia, the section of interests of Georgia created within a diplomatic representation of a third state, and a consular establishment; and, within the scope of delegated powers, a notary as well. Accordingly, if you are in Georgia, you may submit an application to a territorial service of the Agency, and abroad — to a consular establishment.
The Civil Act Entry and the Registration Certificate
A civil act entry and a certificate of registration of a civil act are created as an electronic document. Creation and issue in material form is possible only where, due to force majeure circumstances and/or technical disruption, creation in the form of an electronic document is impossible; force majeure circumstances are determined by an order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia. In such a case, an entry created in material form must be created in the form of an electronic document within 5 working days from the elimination of the force majeure circumstances.
A certificate of registration of a civil act is issued, at the request of an authorized person, on the basis of the entry stored in the civil acts database. At the request of an authorized person, an electronic certificate may be issued as a material copy certified in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, which has legal force equal to the electronic certificate. The forms, requisites and blank samples of the entry and of the certificate are approved by an order of the Minister of Justice, and the rules for their storage and for the issue of the certificate are likewise determined by that order.
Accessibility of Information and Authenticity of Documents
Data on the registration of a civil act are accessible to the adult capable person with respect to whom the civil act is registered, unless the legislation of Georgia provides otherwise. Data on the registration of death are open and accessible to any person. A ministry and its territorial organ, a state subordinated institution, a public law legal entity and its territorial organ, an organ of judicial authority, an organ of a municipality, and any person exercising public-law powers on the basis of the legislation of Georgia may receive the information necessary for the exercise of their powers concerning the registration of a civil act, unless otherwise established by law.
A copy of a civil act entry — except copies of entries of birth and adoption — is issued at the request of a person holding the power to receive the personal data concerned. Where necessary, by a decree of an investigative organ or a ruling of a court, the organ of registration issues the original of the entry, which, after the relevant examination and assessment or immediately upon the entry into force of the final decision on the case, must be returned to the organ that issued it. Authentic in Georgia are deemed: the data existing in the civil acts database and confirming documents drawn up in Georgia or by a consular establishment, on the basis of the legislation of Georgia in force at the time of their drawing up; entries and confirming documents drawn up and legalized abroad, or certified by apostille, on the basis of the legislation of another state; and confirming documents drawn up in Georgia on the basis of religious rites before the creation or restoration of the competent organs, in accordance with the legislation in force at the moment of their drawing up, unless this law or an international treaty or agreement of Georgia provides otherwise.
Application, Examination, Suspension and Refusal
The procedure and conditions for submitting and examining an application concerning the issue of an administrative-legal act or the performance of an action provided for by this law, as well as the procedure and conditions for the registration of civil acts, are determined by this law and by an order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia. Every natural and legal person, and any administrative organ, is obliged to submit to the organ of registration any information requested by it (including information containing personal data) that is necessary for the exercise of the powers provided for by this law.
The organ of registration examines an application within the time limit established by the General Administrative Code of Georgia, unless the legislation of Georgia provides for another limit. Where a precondition exists for refusing to perform an action within the competence of the organ or to issue an administrative-legal act, the limited examination period may be extended at the request of the applicant and with the consent of all interested parties participating in the administrative proceedings, where the extension is necessary for presenting a document that may facilitate the satisfaction of the applicant's request; the organ adopts a reasoned decision on the extension of the period. The total period for examining an application must not exceed 6 months.
If proceedings are pending before a court on the same issue, the organ of registration is authorized, by a reasoned decision, to suspend the examination of the application until the court decision enters into legal force. Before a decision is adopted, the applicant is entitled to refuse their request, in which case the organ adopts a decision on the termination of the examination of the application. This rule, however, is not applied when examining applications concerning the registration of birth, death or adoption, the entry of amendments, corrections and additions into a civil act entry, and the annulment of a civil act entry — in those cases the examination runs to the end.
Unless the legislation of Georgia provides otherwise, the applicant may be refused satisfaction of the application in the following cases:
- the corresponding action or the issue of an administrative-legal act is requested by an unauthorized person;
- the documents provided for by the legislation of Georgia for the corresponding action or for the issue of the administrative-legal act have not been submitted;
- the request contradicts the legislation of Georgia.
Amendment, Correction and Addition of an Entry
The basis for entering an amendment, correction or addition into a civil act entry is the application of an authorized person and the existence of the corresponding circumstance provided for by this law. An amendment is entered in the cases established by the law, including:
- upon adoption, where data indicated in the adoptee's birth entry must be changed on the basis of a court decision;
- upon the registration of paternity establishment;
- upon the registration of a parent's marriage or divorce, where the parent changes the surname upon that registration;
- upon the registration of a change of name or surname, upon the establishment of a surname or upon the legal recognition of a surname;
- upon a court decision on the entry of an amendment into a civil act entry;
- upon the identification of a deceased person, where the organ registered the death as the death of an unknown person;
- upon a change of a person's citizenship status — where Georgian citizenship was granted to or terminated for the person, or the person lost it;
- upon the request of an authorized person to indicate the real place of birth in the birth entry, where the place of registration was determined as the place of birth in accordance with the legislation of Georgia.
A correction is entered where an error made at the registration of the entry is discovered, where a court decision establishes the inaccuracy of a piece of data indicated in the entry, or where an authorized organ adopts a decision on the establishment of a fact of legal significance. An addition is entered where it is revealed that data were omitted or indicated incompletely at the registration of the act.
The examination of an application on the entry of an amendment, correction or addition must be completed by the organ of registration no later than 15 calendar days from the submission of the application, and where the amendment, correction or addition is entered on the organ's own initiative — within 1 month from the commencement of the administrative proceedings, unless the legislation of Georgia provides otherwise.
Annulment of an Entry
A civil act entry — except entries of birth and death — is annulled by a court. Entries of birth and death may be annulled by decision of the organ of registration of civil acts, under the procedure established by the General Administrative Code of Georgia; the entry is annulled by the very organ that carried out the corresponding registration. Where, as a result of multiple registrations of birth and death with respect to the same person — including as a result of the restoration of birth and death entries made before the entry into force of this law — several entries of the corresponding act exist, the organ is authorized to annul one of them upon the application of an interested person or on its own initiative. An application on the annulment of an entry is examined under the procedure established by the General Administrative Code of Georgia.