Lawfulness is part of the allegation, not an assumption
Article 173 is frequently fact-sensitive because a fast police encounter can contain several instructions, several people and conflicting accounts. The first controlled step is to reconstruct each command and response in order.
The provision covers non-compliance with a lawful order or demand of specified law-enforcement and other authorised officials, and also addresses verbal abuse or another abusive or unlawful act against such a person while on duty, except where criminal liability applies. The official’s status, duty, legal basis and actual words therefore matter.
A person may disagree with police conduct and still need to follow a lawful instruction; equally, not every unclear, impossible or unauthorised request establishes Article 173. The defence should avoid abstract arguments and identify the exact time, location, warning, opportunity to comply and conduct relied upon by the authority.
A police encounter can produce more than one allegation
Article 173 should be separated from Article 166 disorderly conduct and from any criminal allegation involving violence, threats, obstruction or assault. The legality of arrest or force is also distinct from whether the cited administrative elements are proved.
Four points to test in the police account
Identify the authorised official and the legal basis for the particular order or demand
Record the exact wording, language, volume, timing and opportunity given for compliance
Distinguish refusal from confusion, inability, simultaneous commands or conduct by another person
Compare the written report with uninterrupted body-camera, CCTV, radio and witness evidence
Records that can resolve a disputed encounter
- Administrative and arrest reports, officer statements, summons and hearing order
- Unedited body-camera and patrol-camera recordings with timestamps
- Radio communications, dispatch records and any operational instruction
- Street, business, residential or transport CCTV from before police arrival onward
- Phone recordings, live-streams, messages and location data
- Interpreter record, medical documents and photographs of any injury
Prepare the account around the sequence, not conclusions
The report should identify the command and the alleged non-compliance. Where it instead repeats a legal label, the defence can request the underlying recording and test whether the officer’s later account is supported by the contemporaneous record. Any missing opening minutes may be important because they can show what prompted the instruction and whether it was heard.
Foreign nationals should confirm that they understood both the instruction at the scene and their procedural rights. Interpretation for the hearing does not automatically cure a misunderstanding that occurred during the encounter. The served order and appeal deadline should be reviewed as soon as the hearing concludes.
Provisions and connected classifications
Non-compliance with a lawful order or demand
The authority, legal basis, communication, ability to comply and alleged response require individual proof.
Read the Article 173 scopeDisorderly conduct
Public-order conduct before or during police contact must not be merged automatically with an alleged failure to obey.
Read Article 166 guideResistance or alleged assault
Force, injury, threats or a criminal obstruction allegation require a separate Criminal Code and evidence analysis.
Read connected criminal guideArticle 173 — identify the exact alleged demand
The panel reflects the provision’s operative scope without freezing sanctions that may change. The current article part and the complete wording cited in the report should be checked on Matsne.
Article 173Non-compliance with a lawful order or demand of an authorised official+
The article addresses non-compliance with a lawful order or demand of specified law-enforcement and other authorised officials while they are performing their duties.
Its scope also includes specified abusive or unlawful conduct against such an official, except where the act falls under the Criminal Code. The applicable current wording and official category must be matched to the report.
Open the current consolidated Code on Matsne↗︎The article or procedure may have changed. Check the current Georgian text and the exact document served in the case before relying on this summary.
How we prepare the case
Primary sources for this guide
Administrative law can change quickly, and the official English text may lag behind the Georgian consolidation. Check the article part, issuing authority and document served in the case before acting.
Administrative Offences Code of Georgia — current consolidated record↗︎Criminal Code of Georgia — connected criminal classifications↗︎Constitution of Georgia↗︎