---
title: "Crimes Against Humanity Defense"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/crim-criminal-law-en/crimes-against-humanity-defense-en"
field: "Criminal Law"
description: "Article 408 — crimes against humanity in Georgia: twelve to twenty years or life imprisonment. Confidential lawyer consultation Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-07-09"
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Crimes Against Humanity Defense

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/crim-criminal-law-en/crimes-against-humanity-defense-en

## What Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Georgia regulates

A crime against humanity, provided for by Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, belongs among the gravest offences. Under the law, such a crime is any act committed against the civilian population or against persons within the framework of a widespread or systematic attack. This means that an individual act listed in the article is punishable under this norm when it is part of that broader criminal context — and it is precisely this circumstance that distinguishes this norm from the other provisions of the Code concerning individual acts.

This norm of the law was created on the foundations of international law and serves to address the gravest global crimes directed against humanity. Its application in practice is rare, but the seriousness of the charge and the scale of the punishment demand the utmost precision from the defence as well.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/crim-criminal-law-en/crimes-against-humanity-defense-en

### What punishment is provided for a crime against humanity?

Imprisonment from twelve to twenty years or life imprisonment. A fine and other lighter alternatives are not provided by law.

### What distinguishes this crime from an ordinary crime?

The necessary element is the context: the act must be committed against the civilian population or persons within the framework of a widespread or systematic attack. An individual act outside that context is punishable under other norms.

### Which acts are listed in the law?

Murder, mass extermination of people, grave damage to health, deportation, unlawful deprivation of liberty, torture, rape, sexual enslavement, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, violent sterilization, persecution of a group, apartheid and other inhumane acts.

### What is the defence focused on?

On the contextual element — whether a widespread or systematic attack existed and whether the accused's act was part of it — as well as on the legality and soundness of the evidence.