Presence at an assembly does not prove every alleged violation
The report should identify what the particular person allegedly did, which rule applied at that time and why the person is treated as a participant or organiser. Group descriptions and short video clips should be tested against the complete chronology.
Article 174¹ addresses violations connected with organising or holding assemblies or demonstrations and refers to the separate Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations. That Law regulates notice, spontaneous assemblies, routes, roadway use, participant conduct, police instructions, warnings and termination procedures.
The Assembly Law was amended repeatedly in 2024 and 2025. The current Georgian consolidation must therefore be checked for the date of the event. The defence should not rely on an older English translation or an assumption that the same rule applied to an organiser and every individual participant.
Article 174¹, Article 173 and criminal offences are not interchangeable
An alleged assembly-rule violation, non-compliance with a lawful police order, disorderly conduct and criminal violence or hooliganism have different elements. One event may produce several reports, but each act, instruction, mental element and item of evidence requires its own classification.
Questions that organise an Article 174¹ defence
What exact statutory rule, police decision or restriction is alleged to have been violated?
Was the person identified reliably, and what evidence proves participant or organiser status?
What warning or instruction was given, by whom, when, through what means and with what opportunity to respond?
Does complete video show the person's conduct, crowd conditions, route, objects and police sequence in context?
Evidence to preserve from the whole event
- Administrative report, arrest report, order, summons and proof of service
- Assembly notice, responsible-person information, proposed route and official response
- Police loudspeaker, body-camera, drone, street-camera and media recordings in original form
- Participant, journalist, observer and independent-witness video with timestamps and location
- Messages, public announcements and documents concerning organiser or volunteer roles
- Property inventory, seized objects, clothing and any technical or forensic classification
Warnings, roadway decisions and individual responsibility
Current Assembly Law provisions address items and conduct at demonstrations, roadway obstruction, alternative time or venue instructions and circumstances in which warnings or termination measures may be used. The evidential review should reconstruct crowd size, available space, actual traffic conditions, the clarity and audibility of any instruction and the person's ability to understand and comply.
Where the report treats a person as an organiser, the file should identify the factual and legal basis for that role. Where arrest followed a dispersal or roadway instruction, the administrative record should be compared with the complete police announcement and continuous video. Any force, injury, search, seizure or denial of interpretation should be preserved as a separate procedural issue.
Provisions and connected classifications
Assembly or demonstration rules
The cited paragraph and the connected Assembly Law obligation must be matched to the individual's conduct.
Read the Article 174¹ scopeLawful police orders
A police instruction requires a separate review of authority, lawfulness, communication and the alleged response.
Read Article 173 guideNotice, conduct, roadway and warnings
The separate Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations supplies the current operational rules for the event.
Open the current Assembly LawArticle 174¹ — identify the paragraph and connected Assembly Law rule
The administrative article cannot be analysed in isolation. The current Assembly Law, the event date and the person's alleged role determine the issue to be proved.
Article 174¹Violation of rules for organising or holding assemblies or demonstrations+
The provision establishes administrative liability for specified violations connected with organising or holding an assembly or demonstration, including distinct treatment of particular conduct and organiser status.
Because the article and the Assembly Law have been amended, the applicable paragraph, operative date, current sanction and referenced Assembly Law obligation must be verified from the Georgian consolidation.
Open the current consolidated Code on Matsne↗︎Article parts, sanctions and procedural routes can be amended. The current Georgian consolidated text and the document served in the case control.
How representation is organised
Primary sources for this guide
Reviewed on 27 August 2026. Administrative sanctions and procedures are amended regularly, and an official English publication may lag behind the operative Georgian text. Verify the cited part, authority and service record before acting.
Administrative Offences Code of Georgia — current consolidated record↗︎Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations↗︎Constitution of Georgia — freedom of assembly↗︎Criminal Code of Georgia — violence and public-order boundaries↗︎