Business Law Firm - Nodia, Urumashvili & Partners offers legal overview of the State of Emergency in Georgia.
Main legal impacts of the State of Emergency
• What is the State of Emergency? – Its a temporary measure, declared in cases established by the legislation of Georgia, and restricting certain constitutional rights for the purpose of ensuring the safety and security of citizens of Georgia.
• For how long will the State of Emergency remain in force and to which territories does it apply? - It became effective on March 21st, 2020 and shall remain in force till April 21st , 2020 throughout the entire territory of Georgia.
• Which constitutional rights are restricted? – Rights ensured by Articles 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21 and 26 of the Constitution of Georgia are restricted, in particular: - Right to freedom; - Freedom of movement. - Right to privacy of personal and family life, personal space and communication; - Right to fair administrative proceedings, accessibility to public information, informational self-determination and right to constitutional remedies; - Right of ownership; - Freedom of assembly; - Freedom of labor, freedom of professional unions; freedom to strike and freedom of entrepreneurship.
• Applicability of the State of Emergency? -It applies to all natural persons and legal entities.
• Legal consequences for the violation of the State of Emergency restrictions? - Administrative liability – monetary penalty for natural persons in the amount of 3000 GEL and in the amount of 15000 GEL for legal entities. - Criminal liability – Repeated violation by the person who had been subject to the administrative penalty, entails a criminal liability, namely, imprisonment up to 3 years in case of natural persons and in case of legal entities sanctions may range from a penalty, deprivation of the right to carry out activities up to liquidation together with a penalty.
What are the main restrictions applicable to natural persons and legal entities during the State of Emergency?
1. Restrictions to the freedom of movement and suspension of passenger travel
Curfew – As of March 31st , 2020 and for the period the State of Emergency, movement of people by foot or by transport is restricted on daily basis from 21:00 till 06:00. However, the restriction does not apply to international carriage of goods and other exempted activities as determined by the Government Decree №181. In addition, during the State of Emergency, natural persons shall always carry a document/proof of identity while traveling or moving in any form outside their living space. Furthermore, irrespective of the time of the day, natural persons being 70 or more years of age are restricted from leaving home, but certain exemptions do apply.
International Travel – International air, land and marine passenger travel were suspended for the period of the State of Emergency. Direct international regular passenger flights were further suspended. In addition, all persons, except for Georgian citizens, their family members and other persons, as envisaged by the Order №164 of the Government of Georgia of January 28th, 2020, are restricted from entering a territory of Georgia both by land and air.
However, above restrictions do not apply to:
• Flights for the purpose of transporting passengers from Georgia to other country, provided that the aircraft arrives from foreign countries to Georgia having no passengers on board;
• Flights for the purpose of transporting cargo, as well as aviation activities related to governmental, military, outpatient, emergency, technical landing, search & rescue flights; o Flight performed by a helicopter being part of the vessel of the military-marine unit under the operative subordination of the Allied Maritime Command of NATO, sailing under the flag of NATO for training purposes, within the territorial sea of Georgia.
• Domestic travel – the following is prohibited/suspended during the State of Emergency:
• Movement by transport with more than 3 persons (including the driver) is prohibited. Passengers must sit in the back seat, behind the driver, if the interior of the transport allows it and recommendations are complied with (issued by the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia (please find in Relevant Legal Act and Resources).
• Transportation of passengers by railway transport, except the service railway transportation, which is used for movement/transportation of employees from place 3 Opinions and assessments contained in this document, as relevant to April 2 nd , 2020 are of informational purposes only , and do not represent a legal advice in any form whatsoever. of residence to the workplace and vice versa, according to the schedule developed by JSC "Georgian Railway" for the purpose of uninterrupted cargo transportation;
• Transportation of passengers by M2 and M3 types of motor vehicles between cities and/or within the municipal borders; o Public transport, including subway and cableway;
• Regular air passenger travel within the country. Applications for non-regular (charter) flights are individually reviewed by LEPL Civil Aviation Agency in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia;
