The Ultima Ratio Principle in Criminal Law and the Reform of the Criminal Code of Georgia: Technical Regulation, Proportionality, and Decriminalization

Abstract

This paper examines the need to reform the Criminal Code of Georgia through the lens of the ultima ratio principle. Criminal law, as the most severe mechanism of state response, should be applied only where the protection of a legal interest cannot be effectively achieved through less restrictive legal instruments, including administrative, civil or disciplinary liability. Disregard for this principle leads to the unreasonable expansion of criminal law, the overloading of criminal provisions, disproportionate liability and the criminalization of conduct whose social harm does not justify criminal-law intervention.

The purpose of the study is to identify both technical and substantive problems within the Criminal Code of Georgia and to justify the main directions of reform. Particular attention is paid to the systematic coherence of the Code, the precision of legal norms, terminological consistency, proportionality of sanctions and the identification of low-harm conduct that may be decriminalized or transferred to another legal regime. The paper emphasizes that reform of the Code should not be limited to technical editing; rather, it requires a substantive reassessment of criminal policy so that criminal law remains an exceptional, last-resort and proportionate form of legal response.

The paper analyzes the risks of overcriminalization, including the inefficient use of law-enforcement and judicial resources, disproportionate interference with individual rights and the weakening of the preventive function of criminal law. Within the study, the principle of proportionality is examined both at the stage of criminalizing conduct and at the stage of determining punishment.

The paper concludes that reform of the Criminal Code of Georgia should be based on three main directions: technical and systematic harmonization of norms, ensuring proportionality of liability and sanctions, and decriminalization of conduct with low social harm. Such an approach would contribute to the development of a more just, effective and modern criminal-law system.