Search and Seizure in Georgia

Search and seizure are different legal acts

A search is the authorised intrusion used to find a person or material. Seizure is the taking and continued custody of an identified item, document, substance or other object containing information. The defence should test the legal basis, execution and later use of each item separately.

The starting rule: probable cause and a defined purpose

Article 119 of the Criminal Procedure Code permits a search where probable cause supports the belief that case-essential material is kept in a particular place or with a particular person and a search is necessary to find it. A seizure may be used where the material and its location are already identified and no search is needed.

What should happen at the premises

Before starting, the investigator should present the authorising decision and offer voluntary delivery of the specified material. During execution, identify who is present, whether counsel was requested, what rooms, containers, accounts or devices were examined, and whether the search remained within its permitted purpose. Do not consent casually to an expansion beyond the decision.

Material taken should be presented where possible, described in detail, sealed and packaged as the Code requires. The report, photographs, video, seal numbers, device identifiers and signatures create the chain from location to later expert examination. An incomplete label or inventory can make it difficult to prove which device, account export or document was actually examined.

Phones, computers and business systems

A physical device and its data are not the same evidential object. The record should distinguish seizure of hardware, copying of data, requests to service providers, access to accounts and any later forensic image. Preserve device model and serial number, account ownership, user permissions, encryption state, collection method, hash values where produced and the tool or expert used.

For a company search, designate one response lead, protect business continuity and identify potentially privileged, personal, third-party or clearly unrelated material. Employees should preserve their own recollection and answer truthfully; they should not coordinate accounts or alter systems after the search begins.

Immediate evidence checklist

• Court ruling or urgent decree, including every annex and the time presented
• Search record, video, photographs and names of participating persons
• Complete inventory, packaging, seals, serial numbers and device identifiers
• Written objections, requests for counsel and any limitation refused by investigators
• Proof of ownership, business necessity, privilege or third-party interest
• Later forensic orders, extraction reports, chain-of-custody records and return decisions

Material outside the authorised scope

The Code allows seizure of certain material discovered during a lawful search where it has evidential value for the case, clearly indicates another crime or is withdrawn from civil circulation. That does not remove the need to record where it was found, why it was taken and how it relates to a lawful investigative purpose. The defence can challenge an unsupported expansion, inaccurate inventory or later use of unlawfully obtained material.

Return, access and admissibility

If seized material is not presented as evidence in court, Article 124 provides for its return to the person from whom it was seized, subject to the Code and any third-party dispute. Where an original business document is needed for lawful operations, the Code also addresses return or temporary use of the document or a copy. A return request should identify the item precisely and explain ownership, necessity and the absence of a continuing evidential reason.

A violation may also support an admissibility motion under Article 72. The argument must connect the specific breach to the evidence and its effect; a general complaint that the search was unfair is not enough.