ABSTRACT

The recent developments in our country have brought a rather unpopular and impractical provision of the Criminal Code into effect. Article 317 of the Criminal Code of Georgia is considered, which refers to a call to violently change the constitutional order of Georgia or to overthrow the state government. The article discusses the criminal nature of the incitement to violently overthrow the constitutional order of the state and its interrelation with the freedom of expression protected by the Constitution of Georgia, and also analyzes the experience of other states and Georgian reality using the method of comparative law research. The explanation of this provision and its demarcation with the framework of freedom of expression are very important, since society must have a clear assessment of what constitutes a criminal nature of the call and what happens when the legal benefits protected by the freedom of expression come into conflict with an act incriminated by the Criminal Code.

In addition, the analysis of the issue under discussion will be interesting for the lawyers willing to easily obtain information on the experience of Georgia and foreign countries, namely: how the incitement for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order of the state is punished and the type and extent of the sanction for the crime. Furthermore, on the interpretations and caselaw of the Georgian and German (federal) constitutional courts.

Keywords: Constitutional Order, Violent Overthrow of the Government, Coup d’état, a Crime against the State

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