Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (No. 431-IIS of 2008)

This Law aims to define the status of territories that have been occupied as a result of the military aggression by the Russian Federation, and to establish a special legal regime for these territories. For the purpose of this Law, the occupied territories and maritime zones ('the occupied territories') mostly covers the territories of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia; Tskhinvali region (the territories of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region); and on the Black Sea: the inland waters and the territorial sea of Georgia, their bed and subsoil falling within the water area along the state border with the Russian Federation, to the South of the Psou River up to the administrative border at the influx of the Enguri River into the Black Sea, over which Georgia exercises its sovereignty, as well as the following maritime zones: the adjacent zone, the special economic zone, and the continental shelf, where, according to the norms of the legislation of Georgia and the international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, Georgia exercises fiscal, sanitary, immigration and taxation rights in the adjacent zone, and sovereign rights and jurisdiction – within the special economic zone and on the continental shelf. The emergency rule and special legal regime shall apply to the occupied territories for the validity period of this Law. This implies restrictions on free movement, conducting economic activities, and concluding transactions regarding real property in the occupied territories and with respect to other issues defined under this Law. Any transaction regarding real property that is concluded within the occupied territories in violation of the legislation of Georgia shall be deemed void from the time of its conclusion and shall have no legal implications. The right of property within the occupied territories shall be protected and shall be regulated under the legislation of Georgia. Among others, the following activities shall be prohibited in the occupied territories: any economic (entrepreneurial or non-entrepreneurial) activity; international air and maritime traffic, except as provided for in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982; railway and international overland traffic; and the use of public resources. Finally, the Law provides that the responsibility of the Russian Federation, as the state carrying out military occupation, to protect cultural heritage in the occupied territories shall be established under the norms and principles of international law.