What Article 276 of the Criminal Code Covers
Article 276 of the Georgian Criminal Code governs violations of the rules of safe operation or movement of transport. It applies when, in driving a car, tram, trolleybus, tractor or other mechanical vehicle, the traffic safety rules are violated and the result is less serious or serious bodily injury, the death of a person, or the death of two or more persons. The first part of the article separately criminalizes driving under the influence of narcotic, psychotropic or new psychoactive substances — even without any resulting harm. In defense practice three questions are decisive: whether a rule was breached, whether a causal link exists between the breach and the consequence, and which part of the article applies — that determines the range of the penalty.
Punishment for Driving Under the Influence of Substances
Under the first part of the article, driving a mechanical vehicle under the influence of narcotic, psychotropic or new psychoactive substances is punished by a fine or house arrest for a term of six months to two years, or community service from two hundred to four hundred hours, or imprisonment for up to three years. This part operates without any consequence — the mere fact of driving under influence suffices. Influence is established by clinical and laboratory conclusions, and where the person refuses the laboratory examination, by the clinical conclusion alone: this rule is set out in the note to the article and matters for the defense, because the content of the conclusions and the procedure by which they were obtained are frequently contested points.
Parts of the Article by Consequence
Under the second part, a violation of the traffic safety or operation rules that caused less serious bodily injury is punished by a fine or house arrest from six months to two years or imprisonment for up to three years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold a position or carry on an activity for up to three years. The same act committed under the influence of alcohol or substances is punished by imprisonment from two to five years. Where serious bodily injury results, the penalty is a fine or imprisonment from three to five years, and under influence — imprisonment from four to six years. Where a person's death results, the penalty is imprisonment from four to seven years, and under influence — from six to nine years. Where two or more persons die, the ranges are from six to ten years and, under influence, from eight to twelve years. As the gravity of the consequence increases, the lower threshold of the penalty rises too — so the correct classification of the degree of the victim's injury is one of the defense's principal tasks.