ON NORMATIVE ACTS

ORGANIC LAW OF GEORGIA

ON NORMATIVE ACTS

Constitutional Law of Georgia No 1324 of 13 October 2017 – website, 19.10.2017

Chapter I – General Provisions

Article 1 – Scope of the Law

1. This law defines the types and hierarchy of normative acts, the place of international agreements and treaties of Georgia in the system of normative acts of Georgia, and general rules of preparing, adopting (issuing), promulgating, applying, registering, and systematising normative acts.

2. The procedure for preparing, signing, ratifying, promulgating, fulfilling, denouncing and abrogating international agreements and treaties of Georgia is determined by the Constitution of Georgia, this Law, the Law of Georgia on International Agreements and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

3. Normative acts (except for normative acts of collegial bodies) shall not be prepared and adopted (issued) under the administrative procedures laid down by the General Administrative Code of Georgia, unless otherwise provided for by law.

4. Normative acts of collegial bodies shall be prepared and adopted (issued) under this Law, Chapter VII of the General Administrative Code of Georgia and other legislative acts.

5. Normative acts of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara shall be prepared, adopted (issued), promulgated and applied under the Constitutional Law of Georgia, this Law, Constitutions of these autonomous republics and normative acts adopted (issued) under those Constitutions.

Article 2 – Concept and types of legal acts

1. A legal act is a binding act adopted (issued) by an authorised state or municipality body (official) under the legislation of Georgia.

2. A normative act and an individual act are types of legal acts.

3. A normative act is a legal act adopted (issued) by an authorised state or municipality body (official) under the legislation of Georgia. It contains general rules for its constant or temporary and multiple application.

4. An individual legal act is intended for one-time application and it must comply with a normative act. An individual legal act is adopted (issued) only on the basis and within the scope of a normative act.

5. A legal act with normative content shall not be adopted (issued) in the form of an individual legal act and a legal act with individual content shall not be adopted (issued) in the form of a normative act.

6. A Code is a systematised normative act covering legal norms regulating particular (uniform) social relations.

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 3 – Scope of normative acts

1. A normative act of Georgia shall be a binding legal act applicable across the whole territory of Georgia, unless otherwise provided for by the normative act.

2. Normative acts of an autonomous republic (Constitution of an autonomous republic, Constitutional Law of an autonomous republic, Laws of an autonomous republic, Rules of Procedure of the Supreme Representative Body of an autonomous republic, resolutions of the Supreme Representative Body of an autonomous republic, ordinances of the Government of an autonomous republic, orders of Ministers of an autonomous republic and ordinances of the Supreme Election Commission of an autonomous republic) shall be binding legal acts applying across the whole territory of the autonomous republic, unless otherwise provided for by the normative act.

3. A normative act adopted by a municipality representative body shall be a binding legal act applicable across the municipality administrative borders, except as provided for by law.

4. Normative acts shall apply to the citizens of Georgia, stateless persons and aliens staying in Georgia, unless otherwise provided for by international agreements or treaties or legislative acts of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 5545 of 20 December 2011 – website, 28.12.2011

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 4 – Use of the state language in normative acts

Normative acts shall be prepared, issued and published in the Georgian language. Normative acts of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and those of municipality representative bodies on its territory shall be also prepared, issued and published in the Abkhazian language. Normative acts may also be published in a non-state language, but such texts shall not have legal force.

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 5 – Analogy in normative acts

1. Private law relations which are not explicitly dealt with in the law shall be regulated by a legal norm (analogy of law) regulating similar relations. In public law relations an analogy of law shall be used only in the manner and in the cases directly prescribed by the law.

2. If an analogy of law cannot be applied, private law relations shall be regulated by the whole system of law and general principles of law (legal analogy).

3. Special (exceptional norms) shall not be applied by analogy.

Article 6 – Calculating timeframes in normative acts

When calculating time limits specified by this Law (except for the time limits defined by the Constitution of Georgia and the time limit set for the entry into force of a normative act), days off and holidays determined by the legislation of Georgia shall not be counted. In cases of legal review and publishing of normative acts (draft normative acts) the timeframes shall commence from the day following the submission of normative acts (draft normative acts) to the authorised body or from the day following the issuance of legal opinion.

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 4618 of 29 May 2019 – website, 5.6.2019

Article 7 – Interrelation of normative acts

1. Normative acts of Georgia shall be divided into legislative and subordinate normative acts of Georgia, which make up the legislation of Georgia. Constitutional agreements and international agreements and treaties of Georgia are also normative acts of Georgia.

2. Types of legislative acts of Georgia are:

a) the Constitution of Georgia, the Constitutional Law of Georgia;

b) an organic law of Georgia, and a decree of the President of Georgia;

c) a law of Georgia, and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

3. The following hierarchy shall govern legislative acts of Georgia, constitutional agreements and international agreements and treaties of Georgia:

a) the Constitution of Georgia, the Constitutional Law of Georgia;

b) the Constitutional Agreement of Georgia;

c) international agreements and treaties of Georgia;

d) an organic law of Georgia, and a decree of the President of Georgia;

e) a law of Georgia, and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

4. The Constitutional Agreement of Georgia shall fully comply with generally recognised principles and norms of international law, particularly in the area of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Constitutional Agreement of Georgia shall take precedence over any other normative act, unless it contradicts the Constitution of Georgia and the Constitutional Law of Georgia.

5. International agreements and treaties of Georgia that have entered into force in accordance with the Constitution of Georgia and the Law of Georgia on International Agreements of Georgia shall take precedence over domestic normative acts unless they contradict the Constitution of Georgia, the Constitutional Law of Georgia and the Constitutional Agreement of Georgia.

6. Normative acts shall not contradict decisions taken by referendum.

7. Legislative acts of Georgia shall take precedence over subordinate normative acts of Georgia.

8. If normative acts of equal legal power contradict each other, the most recently adopted (issued) normative act shall prevail.

9. A subordinate normative act may be adopted (issued) by an adopting (issuing) body (official) within its (his/her) scope of authority only for the implementation of a legislative act and if directly determined by the legislative act, unless otherwise provided for by this Law. A subordinate normative act shall specify the legislative act on the basis and for the implementation of which the subordinate normative act was adopted (issued).

10. Edicts of the President of Georgia shall take precedence over resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia and normative acts of government agencies (officials).

11. The legal power of normative acts of government agencies (officials) shall be determined according to the hierarchy of those agencies (officials) in the executive authority.

12. Under the principle of separation of powers:

a) normative acts of Georgia shall take precedence over normative acts of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the Autonomous Republic of Ajara;

b) normative acts of the President of Georgia shall take precedence over normative acts of the government agencies (officials) of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the Autonomous Republic of Ajara;

c) normative acts of Georgia shall take precedence over normative acts of a municipality.

Law of Georgia No 4618 of 29 May 2019 – website, 5.6.2019

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Chapter II – Bodies Authorised to Adopt (Issue) Normative Acts

Article 8 – Scope of legislative acts of Georgia

The following may be determined only by legislative acts of Georgia:

a) issues that are settled under organic laws or other laws of Georgia as provided for by the Constitution of Georgia;

b) conditions and procedures for exercising and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms; issues relating to legal liability and application of enforcement measures;

c) a list of citizens' personal data that are to be entered in the Civil Registry;

d) terms of formation and general rules of activity of legal persons;

e) rules of formation and activity of legislative, executive and judicial authority;

f) types, structure and amount of taxes and duties and their introduction and payment procedures;

g) the legal status of mass media;

h) the procedure for electing state and municipality representative bodies;

i) criminal, criminal procedure, civil, civil procedure, administrative, administrative procedure, penal legislation, labour and commercial legislation;

j) the structure, authority and rules of procedure of the Government of Georgia, also procedures for creating ministries of Georgia, other state agencies of the executive branch of Georgia, higher state control authorities or other state control authorities;

k) the procedures for preparation, adoption and entry into force of the Law of Georgia on the State Budget;

l) the procedure for approving the number of defence forces of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3613 of 31 October 2018 – website, 21.11.2018

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 9 – Authority to adopt/issue joint normative acts

The bodies/officials authorised to adopt/issue normative acts may adopt/issue joint normative acts in cases determined by the legislative acts of Georgia and normative acts of the Government of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Article 10 – Normative acts of the Parliament of Georgia

1. The Constitution of Georgia is the supreme law of the State which takes precedence over other legal acts. All other legal acts shall comply with the Constitution of Georgia.

2. The Constitutional Law of Georgia is an integral part of the Constitution of Georgia. The Constitutional Law of Georgia shall be adopted when defining the State territorial structure of Georgia in the case under Article 7(3) of the Constitution of Georgia, when determining the status of the autonomous republics, and when revising the Constitution of Georgia.

3. The Parliament of Georgia shall approve the Constitutional Agreement of Georgia which is concluded between the President of Georgia on behalf of the State and the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, with the prior approval of the Government of Georgia.

4. Only the Parliament of Georgia may ratify, denounce and abrogate international agreements and treaties of Georgia.

5. The Organic Law of Georgia shall be adopted only to address issues which, according to the Constitution of Georgia, are to be regulated by the organic law of Georgia.

6. The Law of Georgia may be adopted on any issue under the jurisdiction of Georgia, unless otherwise provided for by the Constitution of Georgia.

7. The Parliament of Georgia shall submit an adopted draft law to the President of Georgia within 10 days.

8. The President of Georgia shall, within 2 weeks after a draft law is forwarded to him/her, sign and promulgate the Constitutional Law of Georgia, an organic Law and a law or shall return them to the Parliament of Georgia with reasoned observations, except as provided for in paragraph 8¹ of this article. If the Parliament of Georgia accepts the observations of the President of Georgia, the final version of the law shall be, within 5 days, forwarded to the President of Georgia who shall, within 5 days, sign and promulgate it. If the Parliament of Georgia fails to accept the observations of the President of Georgia, the initial version of the law shall be put to vote; and if the initial version of the law is adopted, the law shall be, within 3 days, forwarded to the President of Georgia who shall, within 5 days, sign and promulgate it. If the President of Georgia fails to promulgate the law within the set time period, it shall be signed and promulgated, within 5 days after this time period expires, by the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia.

8¹. The Constitutional Law of Georgia, if adopted by the Parliament of Georgia by at least two thirds of the total number of members of parliament, and within 10 days after it is approved without any amendments by the next Parliament of Georgia, shall be forwarded to the President of Georgia who, within 5 days after it is forwarded to him/her, shall sign and promulgate it, without the right to return it to parliament with observations. The Constitutional Law of Georgia, which is related to the restoration of territorial integrity, shall be, within 10 days after it is adopted, forwarded to the President of Georgia for signature, who shall, within 2 weeks after it is forwarded to him/her, sign and promulgate it, without the right to return it to parliament with observations.

9. A resolution of the Parliament of Georgia is a normative act adopted in cases explicitly provided for by a legislative act of Georgia. Only those resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia that are related to personnel or personal issues shall be non-normative. Other cases of adopting non-normative resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia shall be determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

10. The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia is a legislative act with legal force, which is prepared and adopted according to the procedure established for the preparation and adoption of a law of Georgia, and which is considered adopted if voted by a majority of the total number of members of the Parliament of Georgia. The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia shall determine the powers, structure and procedures for its operation and interaction with the executive authority of Georgia. The Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia shall be signed and promulgated by the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Law of Georgia No 2761 of 29 June 2018 – website, 19.7.2018

Article 11 – Normative acts of the President of Georgia

1. The President of Georgia shall issue an edict and a decree, and an order, as the Commander-in-Chief of the defence forces of Georgia, within the scope and on the basis of the powers granted to him/her by the Constitution of Georgia.

2. (Deleted – 20.9.2013, No 1157).

3. An edict of the President of Georgia shall be a normative act (except for edicts related to personnel and personal issues).

4. An order of the President of Georgia, as the Commander-in-Chief of the defence forces of Georgia, may be both a normative act and an individual legal act.

5. A decree of the President of Georgia is a normative act with the effect of an organic law, which is issued in cases provided for by the Constitution of Georgia.

6. A decree of the President of Georgia shall not contradict the Constitution of Georgia, the Constitutional Law, the Constitutional Agreement and an international agreement.

7. The President of Georgia shall be authorised to conclude the Constitutional Agreement of Georgia.

8. A normative act of the President of Georgia requiring countersignature shall be published and shall give rise to legal consequences only after the countersignature. The countersigning procedure shall be defined by the Law of Georgia on Structure, Authority and Rule of Activity of the Government of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Law of Georgia No 3374 of 5 September 2018 – website, 21.9.2018

Law of Georgia No 3613 of 31 October 2018 – website, 21.11.2018

Article 12 – Normative acts of the Government of Georgia

1. An ordinance of the Government of Georgia shall be issued on the basis of, and for the fulfilment of, the Constitution and laws of Georgia. An ordinance of the Government of Georgia shall specify the normative act on the basis and for the fulfilment of which the ordinance was issued. An ordinance of the Government of Georgia shall be issued under this Law and the Law of Georgia on Structure, Authority and Rule of Activity of the Government of Georgia.

2. The Government of Georgia shall adopt an ordinance even if the issue in question is not regulated under a legislative act of Georgia (except if the issue falls within the authority of another body) and if the adoption of the ordinance is caused by an emergency. An ordinance of the Government of Georgia issued under this paragraph shall become legally invalid after a subordinate normative act issued/adopted under the legislative act specified in the third paragraph of this article enters into force, unless otherwise provided for by law or if this ordinance is declared invalid before the entry into force of the subordinate normative act specified in the third paragraph of this article.

3. Not later than one month after adopting a normative act under the second paragraph of this article, the Government of Georgia shall submit to the Parliament of Georgia a draft legislative act specifying the authority of the Government of Georgia or of another body/official with respect to adopting/issuing subordinate normative acts on relevant issues. If the Parliament of Georgia fails to adopt the relevant draft law within three months after the submission, the ordinance of the Government of Georgia shall be considered void. In this case the Government of Georgia may not issue another ordinance on the same issue.

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Article 13 – Normative acts of ministers of Georgia

1. An order of a minister of Georgia may be issued only in cases and within the scope determined by a legislative act of Georgia, a normative act of the President of Georgia or an ordinance of the Government of Georgia. An order of a minister of Georgia shall specify the normative act on the basis and for the fulfilment of which the order is issued.

2. Structural units and state sub-agencies of the ministries of Georgia and legal entities under public law may issue normative acts only in exceptional cases determined by the law.

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Article 13¹ – Normative act of the head of agency directly subordinated to the Government of Georgia

A normative act of the head of agency directly subordinated to the Government of Georgia may be issued by a legislative act of Georgia, and in cases and within the scope defined by an ordinance of the Government of Georgia. This normative act shall make reference to a normative act on the basis of and for the execution of which it has been issued.

Law of Georgia No 488 of 22 March 2017 – website, 27.3.2017

Article 14 – Other normative acts of Georgia

Authority to adopt (issue) other normative acts of Georgia shall be determined by appropriate legislative acts.

Chapter III – General Rules of Preparing and Adopting (Issuing) Normative Acts and Structure of Normative Acts

Article 15 – Bodies authorised to prepare normative acts

1. A draft of a law or of other normative acts shall be prepared by an entity entitled to submit legislative initiatives or draft normative acts or by the body (the official) authorised to adopt (issue) normative acts. The draft Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia or draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia shall be prepared and submitted by a Member of Parliament, a Parliamentary Faction, or a Parliamentary Committee.

2. An entity entitled to submit a legislative initiative or a draft normative act or a body (an official) authorised to adopt (issue) a normative act may commission the preparation of a draft normative act to state or non-state organisations and institutions (including foreign institutions), to individual specialists and groups of specialists (including foreign specialists and groups of specialists).

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Article 15^​1 – Procedure for drafting adopting (issuing), forwarding and transferring normative acts

A body (an official) authorised to adopt (issue) normative acts shall draft, adopt (issue), forward or transfer normative acts by means of automated management tools.

Law of Georgia No 5545 of 20 December 2011 – website, 28.12.2011

Article 16 – Structure of normative acts

1. A normative act shall consist of a main part and final provisions, and also transitional provisions, if required.

2. Normative acts may have a preamble setting out the purpose and principles underlying the normative act; in the case of subordinate acts the preamble shall also specify the normative act for the fulfilment of which the subordinate act is issued.

3. General provisions shall precede special provisions in a normative act.

4. Normative acts may include transitional provisions if norms different from basic norms are determined for a specific period of time or if certain conditions and period of time is required for the normative act to take full effect.

5. Final provisions of a normative act shall include the list of normative acts which shall become invalid after the entry into force of the normative act. It shall also include date of entry into force and validity period (if the normative act is adopted (issued) for a certain period of time).

6. If the rate and/or amount of duties, taxes, fees, and tariffs can be determined separately from the relevant provisions of the text of the normative act in the form of diagrams, tables, lists or in any other form, then it/they shall be annexed to the normative act. Diagrams, tables, lists, graphs, images, etc. shall be attached to normative acts only in a form of an annex. The annex shall be an integral part of the normative act and shall be promulgated together with the normative act.

6¹. A normative act regarding the approval, under the procedure defined by the Budget Code of Georgia, of an annual state budget, republican budget of an autonomous republic or of a municipality, which contains a directly  interrelated table and textual part may be adopted (issued) as the main part of the normative act.

7. A normative act shall consist of articles. An article may be divided into paragraphs (sections –  – in a code) and a paragraph may be divided into sub-paragraphs; if required, a sub-paragraph may be divided into several sub-paragraphs. Articles may be grouped into chapters according to similarity of their content. Chapters may be combined into sections (books –  – in codes). A section (a book) and a chapter shall have a title, while an article may or may not have a title. Paragraphs (parts) and sub-paragraphs shall not have titles.

8. Numbering of sections (books), chapters, articles and paragraphs (parts) and alphabetical order of sub-paragraphs shall be continuous. Sections (books) and chapters shall be numbered by Roman numerals, while articles and paragraphs shall be numbered by Arabic numerals. Sequence of sub-paragraphs shall be marked with the Georgian alphabet.

8¹. Articles of a normative act regarding the approval, under the procedure defined by the Budget Code of Georgia, of an annual state budget, republican budget of an autonomous republic or of a municipality may also be further broken down to have the structure and the numbering different from the ones provided for in paragraphs 7 and 8 of this article.

9. If a normative act refers to another normative act, it shall specify the type and title, article, paragraph (part) and sub-paragraph and, if necessary, a sentence of that normative act. If a normative act refers to a certain provision of the same act only an article, paragraph (part) and sub-paragraph and, if necessary, a sentence of the normative act shall be specified.

10. If a section (a book), a chapter, an article, a paragraph (a part) or a sub-paragraph is annulled and/or deleted from a normative act, in order to maintain continuity of numbering (alphabetical order) in the normative act, the date of adoption (issuance) of a normative act and its registration number assigned by the adopting (issuing) body(official) under which the section (the book), the chapter, the article, the paragraph (the part) or the sub-paragraph that was deleted and/or annulled shall be indicated in the place of deleted and/or annulled section (book), chapter, article, paragraph (part) or sub-paragraph when publishing a normative act.

11. If a section (a book), a chapter, an article, a paragraph (a part) or a sub-paragraph is added to a normative act, in order to maintain continuity of numbering (alphabetical order) the number of the respective previous section (book), chapter, article, paragraph (part) or the letter of the sub-paragraph with an additional numeral shall be indicated (superscript section (book), chapter, article, paragraph (part) or sub-paragraph).

12. A normative act shall specify the following:

a) normative acts that are to be annulled after adoption (issuance) of the normative act;

b) normative acts that are to be adopted (issued) in relation to that normative act, date of their adoption (issuance) and the name of the adopting (issuing) body (official).

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 4607 of 29 May 2019 – website, 5.6.2019

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 17 – Documents attached to draft normative acts

1. An explanatory note shall be attached to a draft law containing the following:

a) general information on the draft law, specifying:

a.a) the reason for adopting the draft law;

a.a.a) the problem the draft law aims to solve;

a.a.b) the necessity for adoption of the law to solve the existing problem;

a.b) expectations of the draft law;

a.c) the essence of the draft law;

a.d) the relation of the draft law with the governmental programme and with the existing action plan in a relevant field, if any (when the draft law of initiated by the Government of Georgia);

a.e) the principle of selecting the date for the draft law to enter into force, and if retroactive effect is granted to a law, the relevant reasoning for the aforementioned;

a.f) the reasons for reviewing the draft law in an expedited manner and the relevant reasoning for it (if the initiator of the draft law requires the draft law be reviewed in an expedited manner);

b) the assessment of a financial impact of the draft law in the medium term (the year the draft law enters into force and the next 3 years). The following shall be specified in it:

b.a) the source of funding of necessary expenses related to the adoption of the draft law;

b.b) the impact of the draft law on the revenue part of the budget;

b.c) the impact of the draft law on the expenditure part of the budget;

b.d) new financial commitments of the State, indicating the direct financial liabilities (internal or foreign liabilities) to be assumed by the State or an entity within its system, on the basis of the draft law;

b.e) expected financial results of the draft law for those persons to whom the draft law applies, indicating the character and the line of the impact on the natural and legal persons that might be directly affected by the actions defined under the draft law;

b.f) the amount of a tax, duty or another fee (financial payment), as determined by the draft law, to an appropriate budget and the principle for determining the amount;

b¹) the evaluation of the impact of the draft law on the legal status of a child;

c) relation of the draft law with international legal standards, specifying:

c.a) the relation of the draft law with European Union (EU) legislation;

c.b) the relation of the draft law with the obligations of Georgia for joining international organisations;

c.c) the relation of the draft law with bilateral and multilateral agreements and treaties of Georgia, and if there is an agreement/treaty linked to drawing up the draft law, also an appropriate article and/or paragraph;

c.d) an EU legal act, if any, the obligation of approximation to which is proceeding from the ‘Association Agreement between Georgia, of the one part, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the other part’, and from other bilateral and multilateral agreements of Georgia concluded with the European Union;

d) consultations received in the draft law preparation process, specifying:

d.a) a state, non-state and/or international organisation/institution, expert, working group, if any, that participated in the preparation of the draft law;

d.b) evaluation of an organisation/institution, working group, or an expert, if any, participating in preparation of the draft law, with regard to the draft law;

d.c) experience of other countries in the implementation of laws similar to the draft law; review of the experience that was used as an example when drawing up the draft law, if such review was prepared;

e) the author of the draft law;

f) the initiator of the draft law.

1¹. The methodology of the financial impact of the draft law defined by paragraph 1(b) of this article shall be approved by the Parliament of Georgia by a resolution.

1². In the case provided for in Article 17¹ of this Law, a Regulation Impact Assessment report shall be attached to a draft normative act, instead of the information under paragraph 1(a.a) and (a.b) of this article of an explanatory note, which will include:

a) the essence and analysis of an existing problem which the draft law aims to solve, and the reasons causing it;

b) the goal planned to be achieved by the regulation;

c) the alternative ways of achieving the goal, their analysis and impact assessment, including an expected result of regulating the issue in a non-normative way or leaving the existing situation unchanged;

d) arguments proving the preference of a selected way of achieving the goal; the expected economic, fiscal, social, environmental, security-related and/or other results and risks of the draft law, in relation to the expected results and risks of regulating the issue in a non-normative way and/or leaving the existing situation unchanged;

e) other significant factors and circumstances that have contributed to the preparation of the draft law and that will be influenced by the draft law;

f) the detailed description of the draft law preparation; the brief analysis of the main opinions adopted in the course of consultations and the summary of the consequences of considering and/or ignoring the main opinions;

g) the ways of the enforcement of law and the roles and functions of bodies/institutions responsible for enforcing it;

h) the ways of monitoring and assessing the enforcement of law.

2. The following documents shall also be attached to the draft law:

a) an opinion of an independent expert, if any, with regard to the draft law;

b) an opinion of a lobbyist registered with an appropriate body under the statutory procedure, if any, with regard to the draft law;

c) a document of all assessments/recommendations/comments, including a document containing an assessment/recommendation/comment, if any, which was not considered by the author/initiator of the draft law;

d) additional information, including a research, analysis and any other source, if any, used as a basis during the preparation of the draft law;

e) draft on making amendments to a legislative act, making amendments to which is resulted by  the draft law, and they shall be submitted in the form of a legislative package;

f) if there is an EU legal act under paragraph 1(c.d) of this article, a table of compliance with it, in accordance with Annex No 1.

3. A draft law submitted as the legislative initiative of a parliamentary Committee of Georgia shall be accompanied by a copy of the minutes of the Committee meeting specifying the decision to submit0 the draft law.

4. A draft law submitted by the Government of Georgia in the form of a legislative initiative shall be accompanied by an extract from the minutes of the Government meeting, in which the decision on the submission of the draft law is specified. A draft law submitted by the representative bodies of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the Autonomous Republic of Ajara in the form of a legislative initiative shall be accompanied by an extract from the minutes of the meeting of the representative body, in which the decision on the submission of the draft law is specified.

5. The following documents shall be attached to a subordinate normative act:

a) an explanatory note specifying:

a.a) the reason for adopting (issuing) the draft normative act, its basic characteristics, financial and economic calculation of the outcomes associated with the adoption (issuance) of the proposed draft. The author(s) and presenter of the draft normative act shall also be indicated in an explanatory note;

a.b) an EU legal act, if any, the obligation of approximation to which is proceeding from the ‘Association Agreement between Georgia, of the one part, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the other part’, and from other bilateral and multilateral agreements of Georgia concluded with the European Union;

a¹) if there is an EU legal act under sub-paragraph a.b) of this paragraph, a table of compliance with it, in accordance with Annex No 1;

b) a draft on making amendments to other normative acts that result from adopting (issuing) the proposed draft;

c) an opinion of a state body determined by the legislation of Georgia on compliance of the proposed draft with the Constitution of Georgia and prevailing normative acts;

d) the evaluation of the impact of the normative act on the legal status of a child (in the case of a normative act developed by the Government of Georgia or municipality representative body).

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 6536 of 22 June 2012 – website, 3.7.2012

Law of Georgia No 190 of 28 December 2012 – website, 30.12.2012

Law of Georgia No 2515 of 13 June 2018 – website, 22.6.2018

Law of Georgia No 3876 of 6 December 2018 – website, 14.12.2018

Law of Georgia No 4607 of 29 May 2019 – website, 5.6.2019

Law of Georgia No 5007 of 20 September 2019 – website, 27.9.2019

Law of Georgia No 5907 of 21 May 2020 – website, 25.5.2020

Law of Georgia No 6868 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 17¹ – The Regulation Impact Assessment

1. The Regulation Impact Assessment shall be mandatory:

a) when preparing a draft law with regard to making amendments to a legislative act included in the list of legislative acts defined periodically under an ordinance of the Government of Georgia, if the draft law is initiated by the Government of Georgia;

b) in individual cases, by decision of the Government of Georgia, when a draft law is prepared by an institution of the executive authority of Georgia.

2. The requirement of paragraph 1 of this article shall not apply if a respective draft law:

a) concerns the budgetary issues (including an annual budgetary draft law), the issues regarding the state security, defence, penitentiary, enforcement of non-custodial sentences and probation;

b) concerns changing of a date (period) under the law or a terminological change, another technical change or correction of an error in the law, and does not change the general principle and basic provisions of the law;

c) considers the compliance with a legislative act of Georgia having the prevailing legal effect of law, a constitutional agreement of Georgia, an international agreement of Georgia and/or a decision of the Constitutional Court of Georgia;

d) is included in a legislative package as an accompanying draft law, and does not include the issues not considered under the main draft law included in the package.

3. In a special case, when delaying the preparation and submission of a draft law is unreasonable, the Government of Georgia may, on the basis of a reasoned suggestion, completely or partially release an appropriate institution of the executive authority of Georgia from the obligation of assessing the regulation impact when preparing a draft legislative act included in the list provided for in paragraph 1(a) of this article.

4. Except as provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, the regulation impact assessment may also be carried out when preparing a draft of any normative (including a subordinate) act, by decision of its author/initiator, the Government of Georgia or a state institution of the executive authority of Georgia.

5. The regulation impact assessment methodology shall be approved by the Government of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 4607 of 29 May 2019 – website, 5.6.2019

Article 18 – Requisites of normative acts

1. A normative act shall have the following requisites:

a) the type of the normative act;

b) the title of the normative act;

c) the date and place of adoption (issuance) of a normative act (if a normative act is amended, the amending date shall also be specified);

d) the date of entry into force and validity (if a normative act is adopted (issued) for a specific period of time) of a normative act;

e) the signature of an authorised official;

f) a registration number assigned by the body (official) adopting (issuing) the normative act.

2. The State Coat of Arms of Georgia shall be depicted on the normative acts of the higher state authorities (officials) of Georgia.

3. The lesser State Coat of Arms of Georgia and the coat of arms of the relevant municipality (if any) shall be depicted on the normative acts of municipality bodies (officials).

Law of Georgia No 2948 of 20 April 2010 – LHG I, No 23, 4.5.2010, Art. 127

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 19 – Legal review of draft normative acts

1. A draft normative act (except for draft normative acts of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the Government of Georgia, the Central Election Commission of Georgia, the High Council of Justice of Georgia, the Head of the Special Investigation Service, the Head of the Personal Data Protection Service, the National Bank of Georgia, the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara and municipality bodies, and in cases defined by a normative act of the Minister of Justice of Georgia) shall be submitted to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia for a legal opinion.

2. (Deleted – 5.2.2014, No 1967).

3. The National Bank of Georgia shall, unless there is necessity for immediate entry into force of its normative act, submit a draft of the act to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia for legal opinion, except for cases defined by a normative act of the Minister of Justice of Georgia.

4. Draft normative acts shall be forwarded to the administrative bodies that are authorised to regulate legal matters determined by those normative acts or their parts; also if a prevailing normative act requires the administrative body to submit its opinion or agree to it with another administrative body.

5. A draft subordinate normative act of Georgia may be submitted to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia only after it is agreed with administrative bodies specified in the fourth paragraph of this article.

6. Before issuing a legal opinion, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia may require the opinion of a public expert in the relevant field on the draft normative act.

7. The Ministry of Justice of Georgia shall issue an opinion on compliance of a draft subordinate normative act of Georgia with Georgian legislation within ten days after submission of the draft to the Ministry.

8. If the Ministry of Justice of Georgia issues a substantiated negative opinion, the draft subordinate normative act of Georgia shall be brought in line with Georgian legislation, after which a second legal opinion shall be prepared by the Ministry of Justice.

9. A legal opinion of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia is not an administrative-legal act and it is not subject to the administrative procedure under the General Administrative Code of Georgia.

10. During the legal review of a draft normative act, electronic documents may be used together with paper documents.

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 5545 of 20 December 2011 – website, 28.12.2011

Law of Georgia No 1967 of 5 February 2014 – website, 19.2.2014

Law of Georgia No 2640 of 1 August 2014 – website, 18.8.2014

Law of Georgia No 3616 of 28 May 2015 – website, 4.6.2015

Law of Georgia No 3288 of 21 July 2018 – website, 9.8.2018

Law of Georgia No 4250 of 27 December 2018 – website, 29.12.2018

Law of Georgia No 4595 of 8 May 2019 – website, 8.5.2019

Law of Georgia No 5570 of 12 December 2019 – website, 25.12.2019

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Law of Georgia No 1338 of 30 December 2021 – website, 13.1.2022

Article 20 – Procedure for adopting (issuing) and amending normative acts

1. The adoption date of a legislative act of Georgia shall be the date of adoption of its final text by the Parliament of Georgia.

2. The adoption date of a normative act of a municipality shall be the date of adoption of its final text by the municipality representative body.

3. The adoption (issuance) date of other normative acts shall be the date when an authorised official signs them.

4. A normative act shall be amended (amended and/or modified) only by a normative act of a similar type, which shall be an integral part of the amended normative act.

5. (Deleted – 6.12.2018, No 3876).

6. Amendments to a normative act shall be prepared, adopted (issued) and enacted under the procedure determined by the normative act which is amended.

7. A draft normative act on amending a normative act shall specify the data on the normative act that is to be amended, namely the title of the normative act, web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia, date of publishing and state registration number of the normative act.

8. If word(s) or number(s) are changed, removed or added to the normative act, the draft normative act shall include the complete version of the respective paragraph (part) or sub-paragraph with the relevant changes.

9. The issue of ratifying international agreements or treaties which result in amendments to the legislation of Georgia shall not be discussed by the Parliament of Georgia, unless accompanied by a draft law on the amendment of a respective legislative act.

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 5545 of 20 December 2011 – website, 28.12.2011

Law of Georgia No 190 of 28 December 2012 – website, 30.12.2012

Law of Georgia No 1967 of 5 February 2014 – website, 19.2.2014

Law of Georgia No 3876 of 6 December 2018 – website, 14.12.2018

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 20^​1 – Adopting and promulgating laws of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia

1. Laws of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia shall be adopted and promulgated under this Law, the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the Rules of Procedure of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.

2. A draft law adopted by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia within seven days. The Chairperson shall sign and promulgate the law or return the draft law with reasoned observations to the Supreme Council within ten days. If the Chairperson of the Government fails to sign and promulgate the law or to return the draft law to the Supreme Council within the specified time, the Chairperson of the Supreme Council shall sign and promulgate the law within the following five days.

3. If the Chairperson of the Government returns the draft law, the Supreme Council shall put to vote the Chairperson's observations all at once. The observations may be accepted by the same number of votes as the number necessary for adopting a law of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. If the observations are approved by the Supreme Council, the final text of the draft law shall be submitted to the Government's Chairperson within five days. The Chairperson shall sign and promulgate the law within five days after its receipt.

4. If the observations of the Chairperson of the Government are not approved by the Supreme Council, the original version of the draft law shall be put to a vote. The draft law shall be considered adopted if supported by more than half of the Supreme Council members on the list. A Draft Constitutional Law of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia shall be considered adopted if supported by not less than two thirds of the Supreme Council members on the list. If the draft law is adopted, it shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the Government within five days. The Chairperson shall sign and promulgate the law within five days after its adoption.

5. If the Chairperson of the Government does not sign and promulgate the law within the time specified in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this article, or if the obligation to sign and promulgate the law cannot be fulfilled within the time specified in paragraphs (2-4) of this article, the law shall be signed and promulgated by the Chairperson of the Supreme Council within five days after the specified timeframe expires.

6. Laws of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia shall be published on the web-site of the LEPL Legislative Herald of Georgia under a decree of an authorised official specified in this article.

Law of Georgia No 903 of 29 July 2013 – website, 12.8.2013

Article 21 – Approving the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara

1. For approving the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara shall submit to the Parliaments of Georgia a draft Organic Law of Georgia on Approving the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara adopted under the procedures determined by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara.

2. The Parliament of Georgia shall approve the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara under the Organic Law of Georgia on Approving the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, in a single reading and discussion.

3. The Draft Organic Law of Georgia on Approval of the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara shall be adopted by a majority of the total number of Members of the Parliament of Georgia.

4. The procedure for approving the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara shall be determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3876 of 6 December 2018 – website, 14.12.2018

Chapter IV – Operation of Normative Acts

Article 22 – Operation of normative acts in time

1. If a normative act enters into force upon promulgation, it shall enter into force only after its official promulgation under this Law.

2. If a normative act enters into force upon promulgation, it means that the normative act shall enter into force at 24:00 on the day of its promulgation.

3. If a normative act specifies that it enters into force after a specific period of time after promulgation, the day of its promulgation shall be taken into account when calculating the date of entry into force of the normative act.

4. Entry into force of a subordinate normative act shall not be related to the occurrence of any other legal fact, except for a specific calendar date or the date of adoption or issuance (entry into force) of another normative act.

5. A normative act may also determine a specific date of entry into force of individual chapters or articles (paragraphs, sub-paragraphs) of the normative act.

6. A normative act shall be in effect indefinitely, unless otherwise provided for by the legislation of Georgia or by that act.

7. A normative act or its part may be adopted (issued) for a specific period. After expiration of that period, the normative act or its part shall be considered void unless the body (official) adopting (issuing) the normative act decides to extend the validity period under the procedure for adopting (issuing) such normative acts.

8. The date of entry into force of a normative act may be changed only before that date.

9. The operation of a normative act or its part may be suspended by an adopting (issuing) body (official) or by a higher-level authority and in other cases determined by law.

10. A legislative act shall be directly applicable, irrespective of whether a subordinate act is adopted (issued) or not on its basis or for its fulfilment, unless otherwise provided for by the legislative act.

11. Fulfilment of a norm laid down by a legislative act may not be refused on the grounds that a corresponding subordinate act is not adopted (issued) for its fulfilment, unless otherwise provided for by the legislative act.

Article 23 – Special procedure for entry into force of normative acts

1. Unless otherwise provided for by this Law, subordinate normative acts, normative acts of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara, as well as municipality normative acts shall enter into force upon promulgation if no other time is determined by those normative acts.

2. A normative act of the National Bank of Georgia that is to be immediately enacted shall enter into force on the date specified by that normative act.

3. A legislative act of Georgia shall enter into force on the 15th day after its official promulgation, unless another time is determined by that legislative act.

4. A decree of the President of Georgia shall enter into force from the moment of its issuance. A decree of the President of Georgia on the restriction of rights provide for by the Constitution of Georgia during the martial law or the state of emergency shall enter into force upon issuance, and a decree on the suspension of a provision, upon approval by the Parliament of Georgia, and it shall be valid until the martial law or the state of emergency is abolished.

5. The President of Georgia shall immediately submit a decree to the Parliament of Georgia.

6. (Deleted – 20.9.2013, No 1157).

7. A constitutional agreement of Georgia shall enter into force upon official promulgation, unless another time period is determined by that agreement.

8. An edict of the President of Georgia shall enter into force upon official promulgation, unless another time limit is determined by that edict.

9. An order of the President of Georgia, as the Commander-in-Chief of the defence forces of Georgia, shall enter into force from the moment of its signature, unless another time limit is set by the Constitution of Georgia or by that order itself.

10. Normative acts or certain parts of normative acts that are classified as secret shall enter into force upon their entry into the 'secret' section of the State Registry of Normative Acts of Georgia, unless another time is determined by those normative acts.

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Law of Georgia No 3613 of 31 October 2018 – website, 21.11.2018

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Article 24 – Retroactive normative acts

1. A normative act shall be retroactive only if it is expressly stated in that normative act.

2. A normative act which establishes or aggravates a liability may not be retroactive.

Article 25 – Annulling normative acts

1. A normative act or its part shall become invalid if:

a) the validity period of the normative act expires;

b) another normative act is adopted (issued) which invalidates the normative act;

c) an authorised state body (official) adopts a decision that invalidates the normative act according to the Constitution of Georgia and other legislative acts.

2. A normative act cannot invalidate other prevailing normative acts.

3. The annulment of a normative act based on which an old normative act has been annulled shall not result in the restoration of the old normative act, unless otherwise provided for by the annulled act.

4. If a normative act or its part is annulled, all the respective normative acts or parts of normative acts adopted (issued) based on it or for their fulfilment shall be annulled.

5. A normative act adopted (issued) on the basis of invalid legislative or subordinate normative act shall not be valid irrespective of whether it is annulled.

6. If a legislative act is adopted, all the subordinate normative acts or their parts regulating the relevant social relations shall be annulled.

7. (Deleted – 20.9.2013, No 1157).

8. The Government of Georgia may annul a normative act of a minister of Georgia on the ground that it is unlawful or inappropriate.

9. A normative act shall be invalid if it is adopted (issued) on an issue that under the Constitution of Georgia, Organic Law of Georgia and the laws of Georgia falls within the scope of authority of other state or municipality bodies (officials) or if it is adopted in violation of this Law, or in breach of the procedures for adopting (issuing) and entry into force of respective normative acts.

9^​1. If the circumstances specified in paragraph 9 of this article become known to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, the Ministry shall request the adopting (issuing) body (official) or the body (official) authorised to annul (suspend) a normative act and/or a common court to annul (suspend) the normative act (except for normative acts of the President of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the Government of Georgia, the High Council of Justice of Georgia, the Autonomous Republics of Ajara and Abkhazia and municipality normative acts). When applying to a common court under this paragraph, the Ministry of Justice shall represent the State.

10. The issues specified in this article shall be examined and decided by a higher-level body (official) of the body (official) adopting the normative act, by relevant State Supervision Bodies in the cases and in the manner prescribed by the Organic Law of Georgia on Local Self-Government Code, as well as by the Constitutional Court of Georgia and common courts within the scope of their authority.

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 661 of 30 May 2013 – website, 24.6.2013

Law of Georgia No1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Law of Georgia No 1967 of 5 February 2014 – website, 19.2.2014

Law of Georgia No 5570 of 12 December 2019 – website, 25.12.2019

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Chapter V – Promulgation of Normative Acts

Article 26 – Official promulgation of normative acts

1. A normative act shall be considered as officially (having legal force) promulgated when its full text is first published on the web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia. Systematised normative acts published on the web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia in electronic format shall also have official legal force.

2. Normative acts shall be published on the web-site of the LEPL Legislative Herald of Georgia within the Ministry of Justice of Georgia ('Legislative Herald of Georgia') in electronic format.

3. Subordinate normative acts or individual provisions of subordinate normative acts may not be published only in cases determined by the Law of Georgia on State Secrets. It shall be inadmissible not to publish normative acts or their parts which restrict human rights and freedoms or which determine legal liability.

4. The amount of the cost of publishing normative acts on the web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia and the cost of service and the method of payment shall be determined by the order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Article 27 – Procedure for promulgating normative acts

1. A body adopting (issuing) a normative act of Georgia (except for normative acts under paragraphs (2-6^​1) of this article) shall submit it for publishing to the Legislative Herald of Georgia within 10 days after the Ministry of Justice of Georgia issues its legal opinion on the normative act.

2. Laws adopted by the Parliament of Georgia, Supreme Councils of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara shall be published in the manner prescribed by the Constitution of Georgia, laws of Georgia and the Constitutions of the autonomous republics of Georgia respectively.

2^​1. A subordinate normative act of Georgia, as determined by a normative act of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia under Article 19(1) of this Law, shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia for publishing not later than the fifth day after it is adopted (signed) by the adopting (issuing) body (official).

3. A normative act of a municipality representative body shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia for publishing not later than the second day after its adoption.

4. A normative act of the President of Georgia (except for normative acts specified in paragraph (4^​1) of this article) normative acts of the Parliament of Georgia, the Government of Georgia, the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara (except for normative acts specified in the second paragraph of this article) shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published within ten days after their adoption/issuance.

4^​1. A normative act of the President of Georgia requiring countersignature shall be forwarded to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and published only after it is countersigned, within 5 days after the countersignature.

5. A normative act of the Central Election Commission of Georgia shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published not later than the second day after its adoption.

5^​1. A normative act of the Supreme Election Commission of an Autonomous Republic shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published no later than the second day after its receipt.

5². A normative act of the High Council of Justice of Georgia shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published no later than the fifth day after its receipt.

6. A normative act of the National Bank of Georgia, which is subject to immediate entry into force, shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published not later than the following working day.

6^​1. Normative acts of the Heads of the Special Investigation Service and the Personal Data Protection Service shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia and shall be published not later than the second day following the date of receipt.

7. A normative act shall be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia for publication after it has been certified by an authorised official with a qualified electronic signature and/or qualified electronic stamp under the Law of Georgia on Electronic Documents and Trusted Electronic Service. The procedure for drawing up, adopting (issuing), sending, recording, systematising and publishing a normative act (draft normative act) shall be defined by an order of the Minister of Justice Georgia.

8. A normative act (except for normative acts under paragraphs (4-6^​1) of this article) shall be published by the Legislative Herald of Georgia within five days after its receipt.

9. A normative act (except for normative acts specified in paragraphs (2-6^​1) of this article, also in cases determined by the order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia under Article 19(1) of this Law) submitted for publishing shall be accompanied by a positive legal opinion issued by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 5545 of 20 December 2011 – website, 28.12.2011

Law of Georgia No 6501 of 19 June 2012 – website, 2.7.2012

Law of Georgia No 1157 of 20 September 2013 – website, 8.10.2013

Law of Georgia No 1967 of 5 February 2014 – website, 19.2.2014

Law of Georgia No 2640 of 1 August 2014 – website, 18.8.2014

Law of Georgia No 2640 of 21 April 2017 – website, 10.5.2017

Law of Georgia No 3288 of 21 July 2018 – website, 9.8.2018

Law of Georgia No 3374 of 5 September 2018 – website, 21.9.2018

Law of Georgia No 4250 of 27 December 2018 – website, 29.12.2018

Law of Georgia No 4595 of 8 May 2019 – website, 8.5.2019

Law of Georgia No 5570 of 12 December 2019 – website, 25.12.2019

Law of Georgia No 6867 of 15 July 2020 – website, 28.7.2020

Law of Georgia No 1338 of 30 December 2021 – website, 13.1.2022

Article 28 – Refusing to publish normative acts

1. Publishing a normative act shall be refused if:

a) a normative act (except for normative acts specified in Article 27(2-6^​1) of this Law, as well as in the cases determined by the order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia under Article 19(1) of this Law) submitted for publishing is not accompanied by a positive legal opinion issued by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia or the content of the normative act submitted for publishing fails to comply with the content of its draft on which a positive legal opinion was issued by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia;

b) a normative act is submitted for publishing in violation of Article 2(5), Article 4, Article 18(1) and Article 27 of this Law.

2. The refusal to publish a normative act is not an administrative-legal act and it is not subject to the administrative procedure under the General Administrative Code of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Law of Georgia No 2640 of 1 August 2014 – website, 18.8.2014

Chapter VI – State Registration and Systematisation of Normative Acts

Article 29 – State registration and systematisation of normative acts

1. The Legislative Herald of Georgia is a legal entity under public law operating within the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, which ensures the state registration and systematisation of normative acts, and performs other functions under the legislation of Georgia.

2. The Legislative Herald of Georgia shall be administered by the Chairman. He/she shall be appointed to and dismissed from the post by the Minister of Justice of Georgia. Functions and powers of the Legislative Herald of Georgia shall be defined under this Law and the Statute of the Legislative Herald of Georgia to be approved by the Minister of Justice of Georgia.

3. The State Register of Normative Acts (the 'State Register') shall be created in order to ensure state registration and systematisation of normative acts at the Legislative Herald of Georgia, as well as publicity of legal system. The State Register shall be the systematic combination of the data registered under the procedure established by this Law.

4. The State Register (except for the 'Secret' part) shall be maintained in an electronic form on the web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia.

5. All normative acts shall be registered in the State Register. Normative acts or parts of normative acts classified as secret shall be entered into the 'Secret' section of the State Register. The procedure and conditions for accessing information entered in the 'Secret' section of the State Register shall be determined by the Law of Georgia on State Secrets.

6. The Legislative Herald of Georgia shall register normative acts in the State Register and assign a state registration code to it upon publishing the normative act on the web-site of the Legislative Herald of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Law of Georgia No 5034 of 27 April 2016 – website, 13.5.2016

Chapter VII – Transitional Provisions

Article 30 – Actions related to the adoption of laws

1. A subordinate normative act (irrespective of its title) adopted (issued) before 1 February 1997, which is not registered in the State Register shall not have legal force.

2. A subordinate normative act adopted (issued) before 1 February 1997, which is not registered in the State Register and includes individual (one-time) provision(s), shall retain legal force and shall be considered as an administrative-legal act with respect to that (those) provision(s).

3. Before 1 January 2011, the Minister of Justice of Georgia shall approve the procedure for registering, systematising and promulgating normative acts.

4. (Deleted).

5. (Deleted).

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 –  – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Article 31 – (Deleted)

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Article 32 – (Deleted)

Law of Georgia No 3283 of 2 July 2010 – LHG I, No 35, 12.7.2010, Art. 212

Article 32^​1 – Data on normative acts promulgated before 1 January 2011

A draft normative act amending a normative act promulgated before 1 January 2011 shall include data about the normative act that is to be amended, namely the title of the normative act, name of the official publishing body where the normative act was published, the date of publishing the normative act, as well as an article and a page, if any.

Law of Georgia No 4563 of 19 April 2011 – website, 5.5.2011

Article 32^​2 – Temporary procedure for sending normative act for publication

Until 1 July 2018, a normative act may be submitted to the Legislative Herald of Georgia for publication without certification by an authorised official with a qualified electronic signature and/or qualified electronic stamp under the Law of Georgia on Electronic Documents and Trusted Electronic Service, under the procedure established by an order of the Minister of Justice of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 2640 of 21 April 2017 – website, 10.5.2017

Chapter VIII – Final Provisions

Article 33 – Entry into force of the Law

1. This Law shall enter into force upon promulgation, except for Articles 1-29, Article 30(1-3), Articles 31-32, and Article 33(4) of this Law.

2. Articles 1-25, Article 30(1-3), Articles 31-32, and Article 33(4) of this Law shall enter into force on 1 January 2010.

3. Article 26(1-3) and Articles 27-29 of this Law shall enter into force on 1 January 2011.

3^​1. Article 26(4) of this Law shall enter into force on 1 June 2010.

4. The Law of Georgia on Normative Acts shall be declared invalid (the Gazette of the Parliament of Georgia, 19 November 1996, p. 1).

Law of Georgia No 3047 of 4 May 2010 – LHG I, No 25, 17.5.2010, Art. 168

President of Georgia                                                            M. Saakashvili

Tbilisi

22 October 2009

No 1876 – IIს

Annex No 1

Law of Georgia No 2515 of 13 June 2018 – website, 22.6.2018

Table of Compliance with an EU Legal Act

1. Relevant article or paragraph of an EU legal act.

2. Relevant provision of an EU legal act.

3. The number assigned to a normative act of Georgia/draft normative act of Georgia in this table.

4. Relevant article or paragraph of a normative act of Georgia/draft normative act of Georgia.

5. Relevant provision of a normative act of Georgia/draft normative act of Georgia.

6. Compliance assessment (full compliance, partial compliance, noncompliance, optional).

7. Notes, including partial compliance and noncompliance reasons.

Note: The table shall contain the full text of an EU legal act, except for its preamble.