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The secrecy of correspondence and private communication is protected at criminal-law cost: the Criminal Code of Georgia devotes two articles to this sphere — Article 158 addresses the violation of the secrecy of private communication, and Article 159 the violation of the secrecy of personal correspondence, telephone conversations or other communications. This page explains which acts are punishable, how the two articles differ, how greed and repeated commission are qualified, and which circumstance releases a person from liability.
Violation of the Secrecy of Private Communication
The first part of Article 158 treats as a crime the unauthorized recording or eavesdropping of a private conversation, the unauthorized obtaining — using technical means — of computer data transmitted during private communication into or from a computer system, or of the electromagnetic waves carrying such data, and the unlawful storage of a recording, of information so obtained or of computer data; this act is punished by a fine or imprisonment for a term of two to four years. Note that storage itself is part of the composition: the law does not wait for dissemination to react — even a recording unlawfully kept is a ground for punishment. The second part may be encountered more often in practice: the unlawful use, dissemination or otherwise making accessible of a recording, information or data is punished by a fine or imprisonment for a term of two to five years. The distinction is precise here as well: obtaining and storage are one stage, use and dissemination another, and the upper limit of the penalty rises accordingly.
Violation of the Secrecy of Correspondence
Article 159 regulates the classical composition: the unlawful obtaining, opening, familiarization with the content, or storage of personal correspondence or a postal item, of a recording of a conversation by telephone or other technical means, or of a message received or transmitted by telegraph, computer system, fax or other technical means, is punished by a fine or corrective labor for up to two years or imprisonment for up to three years. The unlawful use, dissemination or otherwise making accessible of such materials is punished by imprisonment for a term of two to five years. In both articles the qualified compositions are commission for greed or more than once — imprisonment for a term of three to six years; significant damage or the use of an official position — imprisonment for a term of three to seven years, with deprivation of the right to hold office or conduct activity for up to three years. The ladder of sanctions is thus built identically in both articles, and the difference lies only in the basic compositions — in what is punished, not in how severely: the law protects the same value through two angles, communication as a process and correspondence as its classical carrier.
The Exemption and the Legal Entity
The Code adds an important note to these articles: no criminal liability attaches to a person who handed over to the investigative organs information obtained or stored without authorization and thereby supplied information about another committed or expected criminal act. For the same acts a legal entity is punished by a fine, deprivation of the right to conduct activity, or liquidation and a fine — which means a company, too, can become the target of a sanction if unlawful monitoring was part of an organizational decision. The victim's position also flows from these two articles: a person whose recording or correspondence has been touched without authorization receives from these norms the legal vocabulary for demanding that the interference stop and that unlawfully obtained material no longer be used. The qualifications of greed and repetition describe the increase of punishment where the act became a source of income or a systematic practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the two articles?
Article 158 governs private communication, including computer data, in terms of unauthorized obtaining and storage; Article 159 covers correspondence, postal items and messages, including opening and familiarization with content.
What happens with greed or repeated commission?
The qualified composition is punished by imprisonment for three to six years; significant damage or an official position — by three to seven years, with deprivation of the right.
Who is released from liability?
A person who hands the obtained information to the investigative organs and thereby supplies data about another committed or expected crime.
May a legal entity be punished?
Yes — by a fine, deprivation of the right to conduct activity, or liquidation and a fine.
How We Help on Legal.ge
We will assess whether your correspondence or communication has become the object of unlawful interference and explain the applicable qualification under the articles; prepare the position for handing materials to the investigative organs or for legal defense; and for companies — verify the boundaries of lawful monitoring of employee communications. Contact us and defend the secrecy of your correspondence and communication fairly, with every means the law provides.