The Smuggling Charge and the Task of the Defense
Violation of the rules associated with the movement of goods across the customs border of Georgia is a separate offence regulated by an independent norm of the Criminal Code. The charge in such cases usually rests on the method of movement — transfer across the border bypassing customs control or concealment from it, deceptive use of a document or means of identification, or entry of false data into a customs declaration. The task of the defense is to examine which act is attributed to the accused, what value the goods carried and which feature — amount, repetition, official position or group form — is proven, since these circumstances determine the part and the sanction range.
The Basic Composition and the Sanction Ranges
The law provides that the transfer or import across the customs border of an item in large quantity, committed by bypassing customs control or concealment from it, by deceptive use of a document or means of identification, or by entry of false data into a customs declaration, is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term of three to five years. The same act committed in an especially large quantity is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term of five to seven years. The composition is stricter for special objects: transfer in violation of the rules of a monument of cultural heritage or other cultural heritage recorded under the procedure established by Georgian legislation, of an article of jewellery made of precious metal or of scrap of such articles is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term of four to seven years, while transfer in violation of the rules of poisonous, toxic, radioactive or explosive substances, arms, explosive devices, firearms, materials or devices that may be used to create weapons of mass destruction, or strategically important raw materials is punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years.
Aggravating Features and Group Forms
An act provided for by the basic compositions, committed repeatedly, by an official or an assimilated person using official position, by violence against the person carrying out customs control, or by a group with prior agreement, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of eight to eleven years. The same act committed by an organized group entails an even harsher liability — imprisonment for a term of eleven to fifteen years. Under the general rules of group crime, an offence is treated as committed by a group where two or more perpetrators participated jointly without prior agreement; with prior agreement, where the participants conspired in advance; and by an organized group, where it was carried out by a group existing for a defined period, acting in concert and having a structural form. Each of these features must be proven by the prosecution, and it is here that the defense raises its main doubts.
The Thresholds of Large and Especially Large Quantities
The qualification by quantity is decisive, and the law defines it precisely. Under the general rule, a large quantity is an item whose customs value exceeds fifteen thousand lari, and an especially large quantity an item whose customs value exceeds twenty-five thousand lari. A special rule applies to an item imported by concealment or by unlawfully crossing the customs border of Georgia: for such an item a large quantity is one whose customs value exceeds five thousand lari, and an especially large quantity one exceeding fifteen thousand lari. The correctness of the customs value calculation and of the applicable threshold often changes the entire level of the charge.
Attempt and Voluntary Abandonment
Smuggling often surfaces at an unfinished stage, so the norms on attempt and voluntary abandonment are decisive. An attempt is a deliberate act directly aimed at the commission of a crime but not brought to its end; liability is determined under the same article with a reference to the completed crime. A person bears no liability if he voluntarily and finally abandoned the completion of the crime, and he answers only where the act actually committed constitutes another crime. An organizer, instigator or abettor bears no liability if they dissuaded the perpetrator, timely informed a state authority or otherwise prevented the perpetrator or another accomplice, thereby not allowing the crime to be completed; an abettor also bears no liability if before the start of the crime he refused to perform the promised act or returned before completion the weapon or means transferred for the commission. If they failed to prevent the completion, the measures taken may be considered by the court as a mitigating circumstance. No liability arises either for the person who did everything dependent on him for the realization of the result but then voluntarily avoided that result.
Cultural Heritage Episodes and Sequence of Charges
A distinct episode is the failure to return to Georgia, within the established period, of an object of cultural heritage taken abroad or an object bearing the mark of a monument, for which the law prescribes a fine or imprisonment for a term of two to four years. In such cases the defense verifies the existence of the period and its observance, whether the object indeed bears the status of a cultural monument, and the real circumstances affecting the possibility of return. A different part may be applied on the same facts only on the basis of proven circumstances, and every such decision must remain under the control of the defense.
How We Help on Legal.ge
If a charge related to the violation of customs rules has been brought against you, on Legal.ge the service is delivered by attorneys working on criminal cases who will examine the calculation of customs value, the establishment of quantitative features, the method of movement and every aggravating circumstance.
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