The Minister of Justice – Tea Tsulukiani held a press conference at the Ministry to discuss the amnesty law on forged documents and the government’s decision to provide benefits for correcting discrepancies in documents and databases. The initiative for the amnesty on forged documents originates from the Ministry of Justice. The law came into force on December 30, 2015. The purpose of this law is to clarify the personal information of Georgian citizens and to cleanse databases and update the electoral register.
The amnesty covers individuals who, for various reasons, have forged an identity card, passport or other travel document, a birth certificate, IDP’s card, residence card, record of civil status act or certificate of registration of civil status act. These individuals will be exempt from criminal liability if they voluntarily report to relevant authorities, such as the Public Service Development Agency or Public Service Hall, and submit a self-declaration regarding the forgery of the document.
The amnesty also applies to individuals who used a forged document or information contained within a document prior to the enactment of the relevant law. This includes individuals who committed fraud by falsifying personal data prior to January 1, 2009. Additionally, it covers those who have used forged documents or information therein.Unauthorized modification of personal data is an act that is punishable under the laws of Georgia, which provides for the imposition of a monetary fine or imprisonment of up to three years. Citizens currently have the opportunity to benefit from an amnesty program and correct forged data without incurring any fines or punishments.
In order for an individual to benefit from the amnesty, they must contact the branches of the Public Service Development Agency, Public Service Halls, community centers or a diplomatic mission or consular institution of Georgia abroad. If an individual has a fake internal displaced person’s identification document, they should contact the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia within the specified timeframe. If the individual is already known to be the subject of a criminal charge, they are exempt from the obligation to submit an application to the relevant authorities and amnesty will be granted to them based on decisions of the prosecutor and the court.
You can apply for an amnesty process online. In this case, citizens of Georgia living abroad have the opportunity to contact the remote service of the Public Service Development Agency via phone number (+995 32) 2 40 10 10 or through the website sda.gov.ge.
It should be noted that approximately 20 000 people took advantage of the recent amnesty and their documents were corrected without incurring criminal liability. The decree of the Minister of Justice has approved a list of incorrect or inconsistent data identified in identity documents of individuals, the presence of which was the result of a mechanical error. If any such incorrect data is identified in the documents, the Agency will review other documents issued to that individual and if the Agency determines that the error was indeed mechanical, it will amend those documents and the relevant database itself, without disclosing the information to investigative authorities.
If an error is identified in a document due to an incorrect transliteration of the name of a person from a foreign language (primarily Russian, Azerbaijanian or Armenian) into Georgian, it will be corrected based on the wishes and interests of the individual concerned. In such cases, the record of the civil status act will be amended according to the preferred option chosen by the holder of the document with incorrect data, following the rules of transliteration from the relevant foreign language into Georgian. The corrected data will then be consistent with other documents previously issued to this person, ensuring that the authenticity and validity of those documents are not questioned. If, in some instances, existing legislation does not permit straightforward changes to civil status act records, then the name or surname may be legally changed or legally recognized without any further complications. During the amnesty period, individuals will be exempt from payment of all fees associated with correcting the civil status act record, changing a given name or surname, legal recognizing a surname and any other Agency services
