Franchising is a popular format in international education business, but its legal coverage in Georgia begins with one significant caveat: the Civil Code contains no separate institute of franchise. This does not mean a franchise agreement is unenforceable — it is built as an innominate (unnamed) contract on general contract-law mechanisms, and knowing those mechanisms determines how well protected the parties' interests are. This page explains which norms carry an education franchise agreement in Georgian law and where the boundaries lie that clients from other jurisdictions often assume exist.
Franchise as an innominate contract
The Civil Code's norm on freedom of contract is the foundation: subjects of private law may, within the limits of the law, freely conclude contracts and determine their content. They may also conclude contracts that are not provided for by law but do not contradict it. The franchise stands precisely on this norm: the grant of a right to use a brand, methodology and educational product is framed contractually, because the law does not prohibit such a form. The same norm carries an important reservation: where the validity of a contract depends on a state permit for the protection of essential interests of society or a person, this must be regulated by a separate law — in other words, a substantive licensing requirement can only stand on a special statute.
Restriction of the dominant party and consumer protection
A franchise is often granted by a party holding a strong brand, and this is exactly why the Code's restriction matters: if one party to a contract occupies a dominant position in the market, it bears, in that sphere of activity, an obligation to contract, and may not groundlessly offer the counterparty unequal terms. A protective norm also operates towards consumers: persons who acquire or use property and services for non-entrepreneurial purposes or to satisfy essential needs may not be groundlessly refused conclusion of a contract, where the other party acts within its entrepreneurial activity. In negotiating franchise terms, these norms create the balance that elsewhere is provided by special franchise legislation.