The Legal Affairs Committee, at the I reading and under an accelerated procedure, reviewed and supported amendments to the Administrative Offences Code concerning the early restoration of the right to drive a motor vehicle and issues related to the suspension of driving rights.

According to the draft law, provisions will be removed from Articles 115², 116, and 123 of the Code that currently allow persons who have committed these administrative offences to apply, under statutory conditions, to the competent adjudicating authority for the early restoration of driving rights.

Article 115² concerns evasion of testing to determine whether a driver is under the influence of narcotic, psychotropic, or new psychoactive substances while driving. Article 116 concerns driving under the influence of alcohol and certain other administrative offences related to driving. Article 123 concerns leaving the scene of a traffic accident or failing to comply with a police officer’s lawful demand to stop a vehicle.

The draft law further provides that a person who committed an administrative offence under Article 116 and/or Article 123 of the Code before 10 December 2025 shall be exempted on a one-time basis from the administrative sanction imposed for that offence—namely, suspension of the right to drive a motor vehicle. However, the person shall still be considered as having been subjected to an administrative sanction.

To be exempted from the sanction of suspension of driving rights, the individual will not be required to apply to any competent authority or official. The exemption from suspension of driving rights must be implemented no later than 1 February 2026. The transitional provisions also stipulate that a person who committed an administrative offence under Articles 45, 45¹, and/or 115² of the Code before 10 December 2025 shall likewise be exempted on a one-time basis from the suspension of driving rights. Article 45 concerns the illegal manufacture, acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer, or use in small quantities of narcotic substances, their analogues or precursors; use of narcotic substances or new psychoactive substances without a medical prescription; or evasion of testing to determine such use.

Article 45¹ concerns the illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer, use, or presence under the influence of cannabis or marijuana in small quantities. Article 115² concerns evasion of testing to determine whether a driver is under the influence of narcotic, psychotropic, or new psychoactive substances while driving. In the above cases, the person shall apply to the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the restoration of the suspended driving right.

Restoration shall be permitted upon submission of a forensic medical expert opinion (dynamic narcological examination) issued by a state forensic institution, following compliance with the requirements established by Georgian legislation. In addition, the draft law provides that a person whose driving right was suspended before 10 December 2025 under the Law on Road Traffic due to the exhaustion of penalty points assigned to a driving licence shall have their driving right restored from 1 January 2026, and the driving licence shall be reassigned 100 points.

For the restoration of driving rights and the reassignment of 100 points, the individual will not be required to apply to the authority or official competent to review administrative offence cases. The competent authority or official authorized under Georgian legislation to review administrative offence cases must ensure the restoration of driving rights and the reassignment of 100 points by 1 January 2026.

As stated by the reporter, Chair of the Committee Archil Gorduladze, the draft law was prepared following the Prime Minister’s address to Parliament. According to existing statistical data, 35,445 driving licences are currently suspended.

The authors and initiators of the draft law are Members of Parliament: Archil Gorduladze, Tornike Cheishvili, Aleksandre Tabatadze, Davit Matikashvili, Rati Ionatamishvili, Aluda Gudushauri, and Akaki Aladashvili.