Administrative Decision Appeals in Georgia

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Administrative Decision Appeals

Within what period must an administrative decision be challenged?

An administrative complaint must be submitted within one month from the day of publication of the act or of its official notification, unless the law provides otherwise. An action of the organ is challenged within one month from the day the interested party learned of it. A missed deadline must be restored where it was missed due to irresistible force or another valid reason.

Does filing a complaint suspend the challenged decision?

Yes — the operation of the challenged act is suspended from the moment of registration of the complaint, unless the law or a subordinate act provides otherwise. Exceptions include acts that would increase state or municipal expenditure, police acts protecting public order, acts issued under a state of emergency or martial law, and cases where postponement would cause significant material damage or threaten public order or security.

Who examines the administrative complaint?

By default, the administrative organ that issued the challenged act, where a superior official exists over the issuing official or the structural subdivision. A complaint against an act of the head of an organ is examined by the superior administrative organ. A person may also apply to a court under the Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia.

What must a written complaint contain?

The organ to which it is submitted; the identity and address of the complainant; the organ whose act or action is challenged; the title of the challenged act; the demand; the supporting circumstances; and the list of attached documents. The complaint may also invoke the European Convention and European Court of Human Rights precedents, and a copy of a handed-over act is attached.

How quickly must the organ decide the complaint?

The competent organ must examine the complaint and adopt a decision within one month. Extension is possible by a reasoned decision adopted no later than 7 days from the commencement of the proceedings, with immediate notice to the complainant, and may not exceed one month.

8 min·9 Jan 2026

What Can Be Challenged

Under the Code, an interested party has the right to challenge an administrative-legal act issued by an administrative organ. The protection is not confined to formally issued acts. If the administrative organ violates the time limit established for the issuance of an act, that violation is deemed to be a refusal to issue the act, and this deemed refusal is challengeable under the same procedure. Furthermore, an action of an administrative organ that is not connected with the issuance of an administrative-legal act is likewise challengeable under the same procedure, which extends the remedy to the organ's actual conduct beyond the sphere of formal paperwork.

There is, however, a boundary drawn around procedural measures: a decision of an administrative organ taken in connection with a matter of administrative proceedings is not subject to separate challenge, except where this is directly provided for by law or where the decision, independently of the corresponding administrative-legal act, infringes a person's right or legitimate interest. In other words, dissatisfaction with an internal procedural step becomes the proper subject of a complaint only when the law expressly allows it or when the step itself causes independent harm.