Follow authority, knowledge and the transaction—not titles
A payment, gift or hospitality can have lawful explanations; the prosecution must establish the prohibited advantage and corrupt purpose.
Who authorised and delivered the advantage, what official conduct was sought and what did each participant understand?
A flow-of-funds chart may show movement without proving beneficial ownership, criminal origin or what each participant knew.
Records that test the prosecution theory
Contracts, invoices, expense approvals, messages, meeting calendar, decision chronology, beneficiary trail and compliance policies.
- AuthorityMap signatures, delegations, approvals and system access.
- EconomicsReconcile contracts, performance, accounting treatment and actual benefit.
- KnowledgeSeparate each person's information and decisions at the relevant time.
- Proceeds and restraintTest tracing, ownership, valuation and third-party interests.
Articles that may enter the qualification
Bribe-giving
Payment alone is not the full inquiry: recipient, purpose, communication, authority and any applicable statutory defence require review.
Read full Article 339 text on this pageRead the relevant Criminal Code provisions
The panel below reproduces the available official English wording for convenient reading. Check the current Georgian text and the exact article part before relying on it, because later amendments may not yet appear in translation.
Article 339Bribe-giving+
1. Promising, offering or granting to an official or a person equal thereto, directly or indirectly, money, securities, other assets, pecuniary gain or other unlawful advantage, for his/her or other person’s benefit, in order that he/she take or abstain from taking a certain action during the exercise of his/her official rights and performance of duties for the benefit of the bribe-giver or the other person, or use his/her official standing to achieve a similar goal, and exercise official patronage, –
shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for up to two years, or by house arrest for a term of six months to two years or imprisonment for up to three years.
2. The same act committed for the purpose of committing an unlawful act, –
shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a term of four to seven years.
3. The act provided for by paragraph 1 or 2 of this article which has been committed by an organised group, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years.
Note:
1. A bribe-giver shall be discharged from criminal liability if he/she has voluntarily declared about it to the authorities conducting criminal proceedings. A decision to discharge a person from criminal liability shall be taken by the authorities conducting criminal proceedings.
2. A fine shall be imposed on a legal person for committing the act provided for by this article.
The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.
Secure the whole transaction and approval context, including rejected or unconnected requests.
Primary sources for this guide
Before acting, compare this guide with the current Georgian text and the exact document served in the case. The official English translation may not include the latest amendment.
Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia↗︎Official consolidated Criminal Code — current text & PDF↗︎Ministry of Finance Investigation Service↗︎