---
title: "Georgia-US Contracts"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/international-law-en/georgia-us-contracts-en"
field: "International Law"
description: "Contracts with US companies: choice of law, jurisdiction and public policy under Georgian law. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-02-15"
updated: "2026-11-07"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Georgia-US Contracts

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/international-law-en/georgia-us-contracts-en

## The Legal Regime of Contracts with United States Companies

Contracts with United States companies are assessed in Georgia under the law on private international law, which determines which legal order applies where the facts of a case are connected with foreign law, and which procedural norms govern its conduct. The American market is a priority for Georgian exporters and service providers, and it is precisely there that the legal contrast is most visible: American legal institutions often allocate liability and procedure differently from Georgian ones. Within that contrast two instruments of Georgian law become decisive: the parties' ability to choose the applicable law and the competent court, and the state's power not to apply foreign law where it contradicts the fundamental legal principles of Georgia. A properly balanced contract accounts for both.

## The Public Policy Safeguard

Norms of foreign law are not applied in Georgia if this contradicts the fundamental legal principles of Georgia. This is the classic public policy institution, and it becomes especially practical in relation to American contracts: the parties may choose foreign law, but before a Georgian court that choice is immediately examined for soundness. If a norm of an American state's law conflicts with Georgia's fundamental principles, its application will be excluded in a dispute subject to the Georgian court. Resort to public policy is an exception rather than the rule, yet it is precisely what gives the Georgian side a last line of defence where the terms of the contract, or the chosen law, extinguish its basic rights. For that reason the possibility of a public policy review should be anticipated at the drafting stage rather than discovered in litigation.

## Jurisdiction Agreements with an American Partner

The parties may agree on the international competence of a Georgian court even where, under other norms of the law, it is not competent. The agreement is made in writing or orally with written confirmation, and in international commercial relations in a form consistent with international trade usages known, or ought to have been known, to the parties. Georgian courts also acquire competence where the defendant, without protest, agrees to participate in the proceedings — irrespective of representation by an advocate and of the judge's notification, which is recorded in the minutes. In transactions with an American company the jurisdiction clause is often the most sensitive point: the American side habitually selects its home state, which the Georgian side perceives as costly and risky. The law leaves two options here — the parties' agreement on a Georgian court, or on a foreign court where one of the parties has its residence abroad — while agreements on specially protected categories of competence are void. Negotiating this clause deliberately, with the cost of enforcement in view, is part of what makes the transaction defensible.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/international-law-en/georgia-us-contracts-en

### Which law governs an American contract?

Georgia's private international law: it determines the applicable law, the competent court and the public policy review.

### What is the public policy safeguard?

Norms of foreign law are not applied in Georgia if they contradict the fundamental legal principles of Georgia.

### Can a Georgian court be chosen in an American contract?

Yes, by agreement of the parties, in writing or orally with written confirmation; in trade even a form consistent with usages suffices.

### What does the imperative-norms rule mean for choice of law?

A choice of law is void if it disregards the imperative norms of the country most closely connected with the contract.