Crime Victim Compensation and Asset Recovery in Georgia

Turn the loss into an evidenced request

Prepare a chronology showing what happened, what property or money moved, who controlled it, how the loss is calculated and which evidence can be independently verified.

1. Report the facts and secure the reference

Submit a structured complaint with the parties, dates, transactions, property and supporting records. Request written confirmation that the information was received and obtain the investigation reference. Avoid an unsupported legal label where the documentary chronology can show the conduct more precisely.

Read the complete criminal-complaint guide →

2. Obtain and use victim status

Formal recognition as a victim activates procedural rights under Articles 56–57, including information, participation connected with the loss, access to specified final decisions, return of eligible property and compensation under the procedure provided by the Code. If recognition is refused or later annulled, preserve the decree and use the statutory prosecutor and court review sequence.

3. Preserve and trace assets

Identify bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, company interests, digital assets, goods and receivables connected with the alleged conduct. Provide verifiable identifiers and the reason concealment, transfer or dissipation is feared. The prosecution applies for criminal-procedure seizure; a victim’s role is to make a documented request that can be tested and acted upon.

• Bank statements, payment instructions, invoices and transaction references
• Contracts, powers of attorney, registry extracts and ownership history
• Device exports, email headers, original messages and platform account data
• Wallet addresses, exchange records and transaction hashes for digital assets
• Inventory, serial numbers, photographs and proof of purchase or possession
• Independent valuation and a loss schedule separating principal, consequential loss and amounts already recovered
• Evidence of recent transfers, nominees, related parties or threatened dissipation

4. Compensation under the Criminal Procedure Code

Chapter XVII¹ creates a criminal-procedure compensation mechanism for the specific offences and conditions listed in Article 165³. It is not a universal compensation route for every offence or every type of damage. Where it applies and the victim has not refused compensation in writing, the Code provides for securing measures and a compensation decision in the judgment.

The statutory mechanism does not remove the right to bring a civil claim for damage caused by the offence, but the same loss cannot be recovered twice. The civil and criminal files should therefore use one consistent loss calculation.

5. Civil claim and enforcement planning

A civil claim may be needed where the offence falls outside Chapter XVII¹, the recoverable loss is broader, another person is liable, or the criminal process ends without a compensation order. Before filing, identify jurisdiction, defendant, limitation, evidence, interim measures and realistic enforcement targets.

Recovery work by stage

Focused questions

Does opening an investigation freeze assets?

No. Asset restraint requires the applicable legal basis, evidence and procedural decision. Urgency should be supported with identifiable property and dissipation facts.

Can a victim recover property kept as evidence?

Article 57 recognises the victim’s right to recover their own property temporarily retained for the case, subject to the evidential and procedural position.

Can a foreign victim act without travelling immediately?

Initial document review and coordination can begin remotely after identity, conflicts, scope and authority are confirmed. Any required personal participation, notarisation or Georgian filing is then planned against the actual procedure.