Targamadze held briefing on liberalization of Criminal Code

The Christian- Democrats welcome steps taken by the government in respect of entrepreneurs, in terms of liberalization of Criminal Code. At Wednesday's briefing, the leader of the parliamentary minority party Giorgi Targamadze named as an example of this the draft law "On Introduction of Amendments to the Criminal Code of Georgia”, which was adopted by the parliament on its first reading on December 20.

The Christian-Democrats have been demanding from the government for several years that the Criminal Code be liberalized in particular that part of the code which makes business representatives potential criminals.

In accordance with Article 218 of the Criminal Code, the presented changes envisage the removal of criminal responsibility for entrepreneurs who avoid paying tax on large sums of money by in essence increasing what can be considered a large sum.

The draft law will enter into force from next year. As Targamadze said, it is important, if simultaneously with the article changes, the law acts retroactively and persons who are serving their sentence under this article are exempted from criminal liability. He said that the Christian- Democrats will continue to work in this regard. The draft law was adopted on its first reading and two readings are ahead. “Our ultimate future goal is the total decriminalization of this type of economic crime, the withdrawal of Article 218 from the Criminal Code and its placement into the Administrative Code. We believe that this will be definitely best for business development and promotion,” Targamadze noted.