Do not confuse contradiction with intentional wrongdoing
Legitimate case communication, witness preparation and unlawful pressure must be carefully distinguished.
The proposition that needs proof
Who contacted whom, what was said or offered, did it concern testimony and what effect or purpose is proved?
Every version should be examined with the warning, translation, interview conditions and information available at that time.
Create a version-and-contact matrix
Complete calls and messages, meeting context, third-party evidence, complaint timing, security video and testimony records.
- PreserveSecure every original recording, text and version.
- CompareMark exact additions, omissions and contradictions without paraphrase.
- ExplainTest memory, translation, disclosure, pressure and objective corroboration.
Articles that may enter the qualification
Influencing a witness or other participant
Communications, threats, benefits and purpose must be distinguished from legitimate contact or representation through counsel.
Read full Article 372 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 372Exertion of influence on an interviewee, a witness, victim, expert or interpreter+
1. Asking or persuading an interviewee, witness, victim, expert or interpreter to provide, respectively, false information or false testimony, or a false conclusion, or to refuse to provide information or a testimony, and/or to provide incorrect translation, or to change the information or testimony or conclusion he/she has provided, –
shall be punished by a fine or community service for one hundred and eighty to two hundred and forty hours, or by corrective labour for up to two years or imprisonment for a term of one to three years.
2. Subornation or coercion of an interviewee, witness, victim, expert or interpreter to provide, respectively, false information or a false testimony, or a false conclusion, or to intentionally interpret incorrectly, and/or to refuse to provide information or a testimony, or to change the testimony, if it is accompanied by an offer of any kind of material benefit to this person or his/her close relative, or by a threat to kill, exert violence, or to damage, destroy property of this person or his/her close relative and/or by other threats, –
shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a term of three to six years.
3. The act provided for by paragraph 2 of this article that has been committed using violence, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five to eight years.
4. The same act that is dangerous for life or health, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of six to nine years.
Note: For the act provided for by this article a legal person shall be punished by a fine or by deprivation of the right to carry out activities and a fine.
The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.
End direct contact, preserve all communications and use counsel or formal procedures for necessary case contact.
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↗︎Constitution of Georgia↗︎