Blocking a road at a protest: arrest or fine: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Qualification under the current wording: blocking a road (like masks, dangerous structures, or failure to comply with a mandatory Ministry of Internal Affairs instruction) falls under Part 10 of Article 174¹ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia. The earlier general parts of the article were repealed by the Law of 10.12.2025, so check the part of the article and the date of the act. The law in force at the time of the offence applies: a law that mitigates liability has retroactive effect, while one that aggravates it does not (Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, Art. 9).
2. Sanction: administrative detention of up to 15 days (up to 20 days for an organiser). There is no general fine as a penalty (Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, Art. 174¹). Persons to whom detention cannot be applied (Part 3 of Art. 32 of the Code) face a fine of GEL 5,000; an organiser faces GEL 15,000 (Art. 174¹). Detention is not applied to a pregnant woman, a mother of a child under 12, a person under 18, or a person with a severe disability (Art. 32). A foreign national may be expelled and banned from entry for up to 3 years (Art. 174¹). Repeat offence: a new act of this kind by a person already punished under Part 9 or Part 10 of Art. 174¹ is a crime, punishable by imprisonment of up to 1 year (Criminal Code of Georgia, Art. 347).
3. Deadlines and court: the penalty may be imposed no later than 6 months from the date of the offence (Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, Art. 38). Cases under Part 10 are heard by the district (city) court (Art. 208). Attendance is mandatory; a person who evades appearance is brought forcibly (Art. 252).
4. Defence on the merits: the burden of proof lies with the authority, including proof that the person on the video is this person and was on the carriageway (Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, Art. 236). The offence requires intent: participants are prohibited from intentionally obstructing the movement of people or vehicles (Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, Art. 11). Artificial road blocking is prohibited unless the number of participants requires it (Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, Art. 11¹). The MIA may not clear the road if, given the number of participants, the assembly cannot otherwise be held and the rules were observed (Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, Art. 11¹). Check where the person stood, how many participants there were, and whether a MIA instruction was given.
5. Appeal, not to the MIA: a complaint must be filed within 10 days of service of the decision; a missed deadline for a good reason can be restored (Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, Art. 273). It goes to the Administrative Chamber of the Court of Appeal, through the court that issued the decision (Art. 271). A fine imposed by an authority (the MIA) for an offence that may also carry detention is appealed directly to the court, not to a superior authority (Art. 272). The decision is enforced immediately; a complaint does not suspend it (Art. 272).
6. Evidence: your own photos and videos with geolocation and time stamps; recordings by witnesses and media; a request for the full recording on which you were “identified”; witnesses; certificates on children, pregnancy or disability.
7. Traps: a “GEL 5,000 fine” for road blocking is not a general penalty; check the part of the article and the date of the act; a repeat episode after a penalty has been imposed is already a criminal case.

Be sure to check

• under the current wording, blocking a road carries administrative detention of up to 15 days; the GEL 5,000 fine applies only to persons to whom detention cannot be applied
• the case is heard by the district court; attendance is mandatory; the penalty must be imposed within 6 months
• defence: identification from video (burden of proof on the authority) and whether the blocking was caused by the number of participants
• appeal: within 10 days to the Court of Appeal; the decision is enforced immediately
• repeat offence after a penalty: criminal liability