Entrepreneurial activity without a license is punishable under Article 192 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. The norm covers the situation where an activity requiring registration, a permit or a license is conducted without these foundations or in violation of permit or license conditions — accompanied by the outcome provided for in the article: significant damage or income in a large amount.
The charge may concern both the owner of the business and its employees and partners. This page examines Article 192 in detail: what conditions construct the crime, what the sanctions are, and where the defense works. Every figure is taken solely from the text of this article.
Operating without a license: where the criminal boundary lies
Under the first part of the article, entrepreneurial activity conducted without registration, a permit or a license, or in violation of permit or license conditions, is punishable if it caused significant damage or was accompanied by the receipt of income in a large amount. This construction has two sides: the absence of a license or permit alone is not sufficient — the outcome named in the article is also required. The criminal boundary passes precisely along this second condition.
The article distinguishes three foundations: registration, a permit and a license. Their existence or absence is a separate factual question — and often the case begins to waver exactly here, because part of the activity may require no license at all and part may require one. Drawing this boundary is the prosecution’s duty, and the defense always checks it.
Sanctions for a natural person
The article is divided into two parts:
- Part 1 — a fine, or house arrest for a term from six months to two years, or imprisonment for a term from one to three years;
- Part 2 — the same act committed by a group, repeatedly, or by a person convicted of such a crime: a fine, or imprisonment for a term from three to five years.
Each of the three features of Part 2 must be proven separately: group commission implies several persons, repetitiveness the repetition of the act, and a previous conviction a past sentence for the same crime. Even within the frame of Part 1 the case differs significantly according to how the court assesses the matter: the sanction begins with a fine and ends with three years of imprisonment — a frame that depends directly on how far damage or income was proven, and which part’s features stand.