The Criminal Essence of Illegal Felling of Woody Plants
Forests in Georgia are an object of the state's special attention, and the illegal cutting of trees often grows from an administrative offence into a crime. Article 303 of the Criminal Code of Georgia prohibits the illegal felling of woody plants, including the illegal preparation of timber. The norm is built of five parts — from the basic composition to felling in large quantities — and each part has its own penalty range. On this page we explain each composition, the meaning of a large quantity and of significant damage, and the directions of defense that are decisive in these cases.
The first part of the article rests on two alternative grounds: it is a crime both to fell a woody plant illegally where this caused significant damage, and to fell where the act was committed by a person already subjected to an administrative penalty for the corresponding administrative offence. The law thus uses both the feature of damage and the administrative precondition of repetition — and the prosecution must establish either of these two paths separately.
Penalties by Composition
The penalty ranges are fixed in the law part by part. The act provided for by the first part is punished by a fine and/or corrective labor for up to 1 year, or imprisonment from 1 to 3 years. The same act committed more than once is punished under the second part by a fine and/or corrective labor for up to 2 years, or imprisonment from 3 to 5 years.
The third part describes the illegal felling in the forest of Georgia or in a protected area of a woody plant listed in the Red List of Georgia, committed by a person subjected to an administrative penalty for the corresponding administrative offence — this act is punished by a fine and/or imprisonment from 3 to 5 years. Under the fourth part, the same act committed more than once is punished by a fine and/or imprisonment from four to seven years. The fifth part — the illegal felling of a woody plant in large quantities in a state forest or a protected area — is punished by a fine and/or imprisonment from five to seven years. As can be seen, the gravest ranges concern large quantities and repeated episodes.
Large Quantity and Significant Damage
The law defines the feature of a large quantity precisely: a large quantity of a woody plant (timber) is the quantity whose illegal felling caused damage to the environment amounting to 3,000 GEL or more. This threshold is a central element of the composition: if the damage assessment falls below 3,000 GEL, the fifth part is excluded and the case moves into the framework of another part.
The article does not itself determine the amount of significant damage — under the note to the law, the amount of significant damage caused to the environment by illegal felling is determined by a sub-legislative normative act of the Government of Georgia. The defense therefore always checks by which act and by which methodology the damage was calculated, and an independent expert examination in opposition to that calculation often yields a more precise result.
Liability of Legal Persons
Article 303 separately regulates the liability of legal persons: for an act provided for by this article, a legal person is punished by liquidation or deprivation of the right to carry on an activity for up to 5 years. This means that for a company involved in illegal felling the threat is not only a fine but the cessation of the business altogether — which is why early legal intervention is particularly important in corporate disputes.
The Administrative-Criminal Boundary and the Defense
The practical challenge of Article 303 lies precisely in its direct link to administrative liability: one of the grounds of the first and third parts is the precondition of an administrative penalty. The defense therefore checks: whether a valid administrative penalty existed and whether it was lawful; whether the act described by the prosecution is the one contemplated by that precondition; and whether the more than once feature applied under the second or fourth part genuinely rests on distinct independent episodes.
The permit regime is a separate question for verification: the lawfulness of felling is determined by whether the person held the appropriate permit and acted within its scope — here a dispute is possible over the territory, the tree species and the quantity. The critique of the damage assessment works in every composition: both the calculation of significant damage and the computation of the 3,000 GEL threshold are often built on a disputable methodology, and an amount standing near the threshold changes the qualification entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does tree felling become a crime?
When the illegal felling of a woody plant caused significant damage, or when it was committed by a person already subjected to an administrative penalty for the corresponding administrative offence.
What does a large quantity mean?
A large quantity is a quantity of timber whose illegal felling caused environmental damage amounting to 3,000 GEL or more — this feature determines the qualification under the fifth part.
Which is the gravest penalty?
Felling in large quantities and repeated episodes: under the fourth part imprisonment runs from four to seven years, and under the fifth from five to seven years, with a fine and/or deprivation.
Is a company punished under this article?
Yes — a legal person is punished by liquidation or deprivation of the right to carry on an activity for up to 5 years.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The attorneys at Legal.ge assist both individuals and legal persons in illegal-felling cases: we verify the lawfulness of the administrative precondition, the methodology of the damage assessment and the correctness of the qualification; we prepare the defense position and represent you at every instance.
If you face an accusation connected with tree felling or dispute a damage assessment, contact us at Legal.ge — we will assess the case on the basis of the exact norms of Article 303 and plan the optimal defense strategy.