Administrative Appeals in Georgia

Administrative Appeals

What is an individual administrative-legal act?

It is an act issued by an administrative organ on the basis of administrative legislation which establishes, changes, terminates or confirms the rights and duties of a person or a limited circle of persons. A decision refusing an applicant on a matter within the organ's competence also counts, as does a document issued or certified by the organ which may be followed by legal consequences.

When does the act enter into force and how is it notified?

Unless legislation provides otherwise, the act enters into force for the party upon notification in the manner prescribed by law or on the day of publication. Official notification means handing the act over or dispatching it by post; publication means placement in the official print organ in cases provided for by law.

When is an act deemed a non-act?

From the moment of issuance, if it is impossible to determine the issuing organ, it was issued by an unauthorised organ or person, its performance is factually impossible, or its performance would entail a criminal or administrative offence. The right to declare an act lost in force belongs to the issuing organ.

Can part of an act be annulled?

Yes — a part of an act may be declared invalid or lost in force under the same requirements that apply to the whole act. The organ may also correct technical and computational errors, while amendments or additions are introduced under the same procedure as the preparation and issuance of the act.

Within what period can the act be challenged?

An administrative complaint must be submitted within one month from publication or official notification of the act, unless the law provides otherwise. Where the organ violated the issuance deadline — a deemed refusal — no appeal deadline is set at all, and a missed deadline is restored on grounds of irresistible force or another valid reason.

7 min·9 Jan 2026

Every person and organisation deals with the acts of administrative organs: decisions, orders, notices and refusals that define rights and obligations. The General Administrative Code of Georgia subjects these instruments to a unified legal regime. It defines what an individual administrative-legal act is, the form and the requisites with which it must be issued, when it enters into force, how it is published and officially notified, how errors in it are corrected, and when it is regarded as a non-act or may be declared invalid. On this foundation stands the institution of the administrative appeal — the mechanism by which a violated right is restored at the level of the administrative organ itself, and this page walks through that entire construction step by step.

The Individual Administrative-Legal Act and Related Notions

The Code starts from precise definitions. An administrative organ is every state or municipal organ or institution, every public-law legal person (apart from political and religious associations), and also any other person that exercises public-law powers on the basis of Georgian legislation. An interested party is any natural or legal person, or administrative organ, in relation to which an administrative-legal act has been issued, or whose legitimate interest is directly and immediately affected by such an act or by an action of the administrative organ.

An individual administrative-legal act is an individual legal act issued by an administrative organ on the basis of administrative legislation, which establishes, changes, terminates or confirms the rights and duties of a person or of a limited circle of persons. The Code extends this definition in two practically important directions. First, a decision of the organ to refuse to satisfy an applicant on a matter within its competence also counts as an individual act — a refusal is thus a full-fledged legal act, not merely silence. Second, a document issued or certified by the administrative organ which may be followed by legal consequences likewise constitutes such an act. An act may also be issued electronically — by automatic means of management, provided it satisfies the requirements of the Georgian law on electronic documents and trusted electronic services.

The individual act is distinct from a normative administrative-legal act, which contains a general rule of conduct designed for permanent or temporary and repeated application. The Code further recognises an act of endowment, which grants an interested party a right or benefit, and the administrative contract — a civil-law contract concluded by an organ with a natural or legal person, or with another administrative organ, for the purpose of exercising public powers. The freedom of an organ to choose, on the basis of protecting public and private interests, the most acceptable decision among several lawful options defined by legislation is characterised by the Code as a discretionary power.