---
title: "Intentional Less Serious Bodily Harm"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/crim-criminal-law-en/intentional-less-serious-bodily-harm-en"
field: "Criminal Law"
description: "Intentional less serious bodily harm (Article 118): criteria and penalty tiers — up to eighteen months to eight years. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-07-09"
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Intentional Less Serious Bodily Harm

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/crim-criminal-law-en/intentional-less-serious-bodily-harm-en

## The Elements and the Criteria of the Injury

Article 118 of the Criminal Code of Georgia defines intentional less serious bodily harm. Under its first part, this is an intentional less serious injury which is not dangerous to life and has not caused the result provided by law for grievous bodily harm, but is connected with prolonged disruption of health or with a persistent loss of general working capacity of less than one third.

Two boundaries of qualification are decisive here. On the one hand, the injury must not be dangerous to life and must not produce the grave result by which the law defines grievous harm; on the other, it must be accompanied by prolonged disruption of health or a persistent loss of working capacity of less than one third. This logic of boundaries means that in the case file the conclusion of the forensic medical examination is the central piece of evidence: it is precisely that conclusion which determines the category of the injury.

In interpreting the medical criteria two concepts are central. Prolonged disruption of health covers the interval of time fixed by forensic practice, whose boundary differs from the criteria of grievous harm; and the persistent loss of working capacity of less than one third precisely defines the threshold below which the injury remains less serious. The exact separation of these two concepts from grievous harm determines the entire course of the case.

## The Penalty under the First Part

For the offence provided by the first part the law sets three variants of penalty, applied separately: corrective labour for a term of up to eighteen months; or house arrest for a term from six months to two years; or imprisonment for a term from two to four years, with or without restriction of weapon-related rights. The choice of penalty depends on the details of the offence and on the person of the offender.

## The Second Part — Aggravating Circumstances

The second part establishes a stricter regime for intentional less serious bodily harm committed in the presence of an aggravating circumstance provided by law for grievous harm, or by a person who has previously committed intentional grievous bodily harm or a crime directed against life: it is punishable by imprisonment for a term from four to six years, with or without restriction of weapon-related rights. This norm places the act in a new light where a record of past violence or a special circumstance exists.

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### How is less serious harm defined?

Not dangerous to life, without a grave result, but connected with prolonged illness or loss of working capacity of less than one third.

### What penalty follows the basic elements?

Corrective labour up to eighteen months, house arrest from six months to two years, or imprisonment from two to four years.

### When is the penalty aggravated?

With an aggravating circumstance or a prior record — four to six years; with the consequence of death — five to eight years.

### What is the role of the examination?

The forensic conclusion is the central evidence of the degree of injury and the foundation of the qualification.