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
These provisions are orientation points, not a conclusion. An investigation may start under one article and later be narrowed, expanded or reclassified as facts, expert results, article parts, aggravating circumstances and procedural decisions develop.
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 provisions before the external source
The operative English text below is reproduced from the official consolidated Criminal Code of Georgia, publication 296, accessed 9 August 2026. Formatting has been normalised for on-screen reading; the current Georgian-language consolidated text controls if wording or timing differs.
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.
Open Article 339 in the official consolidated Criminal Code↗︎How counsel turns the issue into a case plan
For bribe-giving, counsel can identify the operative procedure and decision-maker, test the prosecution theory against each legal element, obtain lawful defence material, frame expert or disclosure requests, preserve objections and prepare the next motion, hearing or cross-border step. Advice must be based on the actual record rather than the page title alone.
Secure the whole transaction and approval context, including rejected or unconnected requests.
Questions clients ask about bribe-giving
Does Article 339 — Bribe-giving — automatically apply to Bribe-Giving?+
For Bribe-Giving, Article 339 may provide a starting point, but a page title is not a legal qualification. Investigators and prosecutors must match proved facts to every element, part and aggravating circumstance. The qualification may be narrowed, expanded or changed after expert results, new evidence, a defence motion, prosecutorial review or a court decision. Payment alone is not the full inquiry: recipient, purpose, communication, authority and any applicable statutory defence require review.
Which factual boundary is decisive in a Bribe-Giving case?+
In a Bribe-Giving case, the evidence must distinguish an improper advantage from a lawful gift, fee, political contact, service or procurement decision. That boundary is tested through the person's individual conduct, knowledge or intent, the legally classified consequence and every circumstance relied upon to move the allegation into a different article or aggravated part.
What evidence can prove—or undermine—the allegation of Bribe-Giving?+
The focused record for Bribe-Giving is not the same as for every offence. Priority material includes decision chains, procurement files, calendars, communications, payments and evidence of legitimate work. The defence should test provenance, completeness, authorship, lawful collection, chain of custody and whether each item proves the disputed element rather than merely repeating the accusation.
Can the article or charge for Bribe-Giving change after the investigation starts?+
Yes. For Bribe-Giving, Article 339 may be a starting map, but expert results, quantity or value, injury classification, individual role, attempt or participation, a defence application, prosecutorial review or a court decision may support a different article, part or legal outcome.
What should be preserved immediately in a Bribe-Giving matter?+
In a Bribe-Giving matter, preserve the original chronology, procedural records and the topic-specific material before routine loss or alteration. Early advice is important because company and individual positions may diverge as soon as officials request records or interviews; preservation must be lawful and must not involve hiding, changing or coordinating evidence.
Primary sources for this guide
Legislation can change and official English translations may lag the Georgian text. Check the current consolidated version and obtain advice before relying on a deadline, offence classification or remedy.
Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia↗︎Official consolidated Criminal Code — current text & PDF↗︎Ministry of Finance Investigation Service↗︎