Tornike Chikovani, criminal lawyer in Tbilisi, Georgia
Criminal offences

Assault and Bodily Injury

Assault and bodily injury in Georgia: match medical classification, causation and intent to Articles 117, 118 or 120 and assess any self-defence evidence.

English legal guideTbilisi · Georgia-wide
Offence analysis

What the accusation must actually prove

The medical classification of harm, intent, causation and self-defence can place the same confrontation under different provisions.

Decisive factual question

Who initiated force, what response followed, what injury was legally assessed and what causal link is proved?

The prosecution must prove every required element beyond reasonable doubt; suspicion, association or an adverse outcome cannot fill an evidential gap.

Evidence specific to this allegation

Medical and forensic reports, photographs over time, CCTV, clothing, scene traces, emergency calls and independent witnesses.

01

Conduct

Define the exact act attributed to each person, including time, place and role.

02

Mental element

Test knowledge, intent, purpose or negligence required by the potential provision.

03

Consequence and causation

Separate what happened from what the accused legally caused.

Criminal Code articles to check

Articles that may enter the qualification

Article 117, 118 and 120

Intentional bodily-injury provisions

Articles 117, 118 and 120 address different classifications of intentional harm. Article 119 is deleted, so the medical classification, causation, intent and any claimed self-defence must be mapped to the current provisions.

Read full Articles 117, 118 and 120 text on this page
Relevant Criminal Code wording

Read 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 117Intentional infliction of serious harm to health

1. Intentional infliction of serious harm to health, i.e. bodily injury that is dangerous for life or which has caused the loss of eyesight, hearing, speech or any organ or its function, mental disorder, interruption of pregnancy, permanent disfigurement of the face or other such injury that is dangerous for life and causes permanent loss of general working ability by at least one third, or complete loss of professional working ability knowingly, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of four to seven years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

2. An act provided for by paragraph 1 of this article, which has caused the loss of life, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

3. An act provided for by paragraph 1 of this article, committed:

a) in connection with the official activities or performance of public duties of a victim or his/her close relative;

b) with regard to hostage- taking;

c) by the means that intentionally endanger the life or health of others;

d) with the aim of concealing any other crime or facilitating its commission;

e) against a family member;

f) by an offender knowingly on a pregnant woman;

g) by an offender knowingly on a minor, a helpless person or a person with a disability;

h) with hooligan motives;

i) due to race, religion, national or ethnic intolerance;

j) due to intolerance for equality of women with men;

k) by a group of persons;

l) against two or more persons;

m) with an extreme cruelty;

n) for mercenary purposes or by contract;

o) with the aim of transplanting or otherwise using an organ, part of an organ or a tissue of a victim’ s body;

p) repeatedly (except for murders under Articles 110-114 of this Code);

q) by a person who had previously committed a murder under Article 108 or 109 of this Code, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of nine to thirteen years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

4. An act provided for by paragraph 3 of this article, which has caused the loss of life, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of ten to fourteen years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.

Article 118Intentional infliction of less serious harm to health

1. Intentional infliction of less serious harm to health that is not dangerous for life and has not entailed a consequence provided for by Article 117 of this Code but which is related to a long-term deterioration of health or to a stable and less than one-third loss of general working ability, –

shall be punished by corrective labour for a term of up to 18 months or house arrest for a term of six months to two years, or by imprisonment for a term of two to four years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

2. Intentional infliction of less serious harm to health committed under the aggravating circumstances provided for by Article 117(3) of this Code, or by a person who had previously inflicted intentionally a serious health to health or committed an act provided for in Article 108 or 109 of this Code, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of four to six years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

3. An act provided for in paragraph 2 of this article, which has caused the loss of life, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years, with or without the restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.

Article 120Intentional infliction of minor harm to health

1. Intentional infliction of minor harm to health, which has entailed a short-term deterioration of health or an insignificant or unstable loss of general working ability, –

shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for a term of up to six months, or house arrest for a term of six months to two years, or imprisonment for a term of one to three years, with or without restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

2. Intentional infliction of minor harm to health committed under the aggravating circumstances provided for by Article 117(3) of this Code, or by a person who had previously inflicted intentionally serious harm to health, less serious harm to health or committed an act provided for in Article 108 or 109 of this Code, –

shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three to five years, with or without restriction of the rights regarding weapons.

The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.

First controlled step

Document injuries promptly, preserve video and reconstruct every movement rather than relying on the final injury alone.

Sources & legislation

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 GeorgiaOfficial consolidated Criminal Code — current text & PDFMinistry of Finance Investigation Service
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