Serving a Non-Custodial Sentence — the Enforcement File and the Convict's Rights

Who enforces a non-custodial sentence?

Enforcement is ensured by the Non-Custodial Sentences Enforcement and Probation Department of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and by its territorial bodies — the probation bureaus. The act is transferred to a bureau headed by a bureau chief appointed by the Minister of Justice from among probation officers with higher legal education.

What is recorded in the registration journal?

The journal records the act's registration number, its arrival date at the bureau, its type and issuing body, the date of entry into force, a short summary of the operative part, the convicted person's personal details, the relevant provision of the Criminal Code, the officer to whom the act was transferred, information about submissions, and the date of completion of the proceedings.

What does the enforcement file contain?

The file contains the enforceable act, the convicted person's data and photograph, protocols of the officer's measures, copies of notices sent to the court, the officer's report card, a copy of the bureau chief's submission, other documents drawn up during the proceedings, and the duties imposed on the convicted person together with the officer's control requirements.

When do the enforcement proceedings end?

It depends on the type of penalty: for deprivation of a right — on expiry of the prohibition period set by the court or on release from serving the penalty; for community service and corrective labour — on complete serving, replacement by another type of penalty, or release; for a conditional sentence — on expiry of the probation period and in other cases defined by law. Annulment of the act or the death of the convicted person discontinues the proceedings.

What happens if a court act is ambiguous?

The bureau chief applies to the court with a request to interpret the unclear or imprecise part of the act, so that enforcement rests on an accurately understood decision.

7 min·27 Aug 2026

Which decisions are enforced through the probation system

The enforcement of non-custodial sentences in Georgia is governed by a dedicated law on the enforcement of non-custodial penalties and probation. It establishes the procedure according to which legal acts imposing non-custodial penalties on a convicted person, and the decisions connected with them, are carried out. The following categories of acts are subject to enforcement under the procedure established by this law:

acts on deprivation of the right to hold a position or to carry on an activity as a penalty;
acts on deprivation of a legal entity's right to carry on an activity as a penalty;
acts on the assignment of community service as a penalty;
acts on the assignment of corrective labour as a penalty;
acts on the imposition of a conditional sentence;
acts on conditional early release from serving the sentence;
acts on the deferral of the serving of the sentence.

In practical terms, this means that once a court decision enters into legal force, its enforcement does not pass to a penitentiary institution but to the probation system: the act is registered at a bureau, an enforcement file is opened concerning the convicted person, and that person's conduct comes under the supervision of a probation officer. If you are a convicted person, it is precisely this law that determines who registers the act, what kind of file is opened about you, what is recorded in protocols, and when the enforcement is considered complete.

Updated: 14 Oct 2026

Serving a Non-Custodial Sentence — the Enforcement File and the Convict's Rights

Who enforces a non-custodial sentence?

What is recorded in the registration journal?

What does the enforcement file contain?

When do the enforcement proceedings end?

What happens if a court act is ambiguous?

The bureau chief applies to the court with a request to interpret the unclear or imprecise part of the act, so that enforcement rests on an accurately understood decision.

7 min·27 Aug 2026

Which decisions are enforced through the probation system

acts on deprivation of the right to hold a position or to carry on an activity as a penalty;

acts on deprivation of a legal entity's right to carry on an activity as a penalty;

acts on the assignment of community service as a penalty;

acts on the assignment of corrective labour as a penalty;

acts on the imposition of a conditional sentence;

acts on conditional early release from serving the sentence;

acts on the deferral of the serving of the sentence.