The Essence of the Perjury Offence
Article 370 of the Criminal Code of Georgia treats obstruction of justice as a distinct crime, expressed through the provision of false information or false testimony by an interrogated person, a witness or a victim, the giving of a false conclusion or false testimony by an expert, the intentional or negligent failure of an expert to protect the object of expert examination, or the intentional incorrect translation by an interpreter — during investigation or in court. The norm gathers within one frame the conduct of various participants in the process, because each of them is a pillar of the reliability of justice: the word of a witness, the conclusion of an expert and the translation of an interpreter are among the grounds on which decisions are taken.
The offence manifests at both procedural stages — in investigation and in court — and a charge under this article requires precise establishment of what information was false, who provided it and how the act affected the outcome of the case. Defence argumentation unfolds precisely on these questions, because the boundary between a lie and an error of perception is often a matter of interpretation, and the burden of proving deliberate falsehood rests on the prosecution. The procedural role matters as well: the legal position of an interrogated person, a witness, an expert and an interpreter differs, and the list of criminalized conduct for each role is distinct — which the framing of the charge must reflect exactly.
Penalties Under the Separate Parts
The basic composition under the first part is punished by imprisonment for a term of up to four years. The second part aggravates liability where the same act is committed for gain or another personal motive — the penalty then being imprisonment for a term of two to six years. The third part contains a separate classification for an act under the first part committed in a criminal case in which the accused is charged with a grave or an especially grave crime — here the penalty is three to seven years of imprisonment. Under the fourth part, an act under the first or third part committed more than once is punished by imprisonment for a term of four to eight years. Each measure is formulated separately, and their merger is impermissible.
The Subjective Side and Lines of Defence
The provider of false information acts intentionally, while the failure to protect the object of expert examination may be caused either intentionally or by negligence — a distinction directly reflected in the framing of the charge. In defence practice the main directions are: establishing the falsity of the information, since testimony may simply be inaccurate because of the peculiarities of perception; analysing the motive, since the failure to prove gain or a personal motive removes the basis of the second part; and verifying the composition of repetition, because that feature activates the severe penalty of the fourth part.
The procedural rules — who and how charges under this article, and at which stage the accusation is framed — are defined by other norms of criminal procedure, so the assessment of a concrete case is impossible without studying the documents. The advocate's task is not only mitigation but also the attainment of the exact classification, which sometimes changes the whole architecture of the case. In practice this means an audit of the testimony — both what the person said on each question and how it was recorded in the protocols; artificial contradictions often surface precisely in the documentary layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Whom does liability for false testimony cover?
An interrogated person, a witness, a victim, an expert and an interpreter — in cases of false information, a false conclusion, failure to protect the object of examination or intentional incorrect translation, during investigation or in court.
What penalty does this offence carry?
For the basic composition — imprisonment of up to four years; for gain or personal motive — two to six years; in a case of a grave or especially grave crime — three to seven years; when committed more than once — four to eight years.
Is every inaccurate testimony a crime?
No — the falsehood must be deliberate and obstructive to justice; an error of perception and inaccuracy in testimony are assessed differently, and this distinction is the central issue of the defence; the prosecution must establish the deliberateness of the falsehood, not the mere fact of inaccuracy.
Which feature aggravates liability the most?
Commission more than once — the penalty then rises to imprisonment of four to eight years, which is why establishing this feature requires additional evidence from the prosecution.
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