On Determining the Different Mode of Providing Some Services and Fees for Certain Services in the System of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in Order to Prevent the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia

Order No 21

24 March 2020

Tbilisi

On Determining the Different Mode of Providing Some Services and Fees for Certain Services in the System of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in Order to Prevent the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

On the basis of Article 25 of the Law of Georgia on Normative Acts, Article 10 of the Ordinance No 181 of 23 March 2020 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of Measures to be Implemented in connection with the Prevention of the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Georgia, paragraph 6(b) and (c) of the Decree No 529 of 12 March 2020 of the Government of Georgia on the Determination of Specific Measures in Public Institutions to Prevent the Possible Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Article 5(2)(a) and (m) of the Statute approved by the Ordinance No 337 of 13 December 2013 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of the Statute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, I do hereby order:

Article 1

In order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect the health of the population of Georgia, for the period of the state of emergency, rules different from the legislation of Georgia shall be established in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia ('the Ministry') for the provision of some services and with regard to certain fees, in accordance with this Order.

Article 2

1. The Legal Entity under Public Law called the Service Agency of the Ministry ('the Agency') operating under the Ministry shall temporarily suspend:

a) theory and practice tests for driving licences;

b) tests provided for by Article 27¹ of the Law of Georgia on Weapons, and the registration and reregistration of firearms and gas weapons and their main components (including the issuance of a purchase permit), except for awarding with weapons and/or registration as determined by Article 3(5), Article 3(15) and (16) of the Ordinance No 162 of 21 September 2005 of the Government of Georgia and Article 4(7) and (8) of the Procedure approved by the Order No 164 of 28 February 2014 of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia on the Approval of the Procedures for Carrying, Storing and Moving Weapons and Ammunition in Possession or Use.

c) the inspection of the supporting technical means of a vehicle or agricultural machine in the territory of a structural unit of the Agency, except for services provided in the customs control area;

d) the registration of a vehicle if the purpose of the possessor/owner of the vehicle is to substitute the old form of vehicle registration plate with a new one (an official number plate).

2. The owner of a motorised vehicle (which was imported before 1 April 2020) shall be exempted from service fees on overdue days established for inland transit by note 6 of Article 6 of the Law of Georgia on the Fees and Terms for the Services of the Legal Entity under Public Law called Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia until 1 September 2020. The said exemption shall not apply to the procedure for paying a fee in the case of losing the internal transit number plate.

3. Before the reduction of the risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), an alien, a stateless person, or a citizen of Georgia whose one-year term of participation in road traffic has expired on 1 March 2020, as provided for by Article 48(1)(a) and Article 49(1)(a) of the Rule approved by Order No 598 of 1 August 2012 of the Minister of Internal Affairs on the Approval of Conducting Driving Licence Tests, Granting, Cancelling, Restoring Suspended, Deprived or Terminated (Cancelled) Driving Rights, Issuing and Cancelling Driving Licence, Tram Driving Licence and International Driving Licence (Including, Substitution and Restoration), Procedure for Maintaining a Driving Licence Register, as well as the Substitution and Recognition of a Driving Licence Issued by a Foreign Country and the Approval of Terms, shall be allowed to participate in road traffic despite the expiration of the said term.

4. The alien, stateless person or citizen of Georgia shall enjoy the rights provided for by paragraph 3 of this article if the driving licence issued by a foreign country is valid.

Article 3

1. The Legal Entity under Public Law called Security Police Department ('the Department') operating within the governance of the Ministry shall:

a) receive all applications concerning issues relating to security activities in the territory of Georgia through the hotline '125';

b) give appropriate responses to incoming applications through the employees of the Department, fully observing the recommendations relating to the prevention of the possible spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) developed by the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia.

2. In accordance with the Order No 2481030 of 3 October 2016 of the Chairperson of the Department on the Approval of Rates for Security Services of the Legal Entity under Public Law called Security Police Department operating within the governance of the Ministry, in the event of an appropriate application from a client, the Chairperson of the Department shall be authorised to temporarily suspend contracts regarding the transfer of security technical means for temporary use and service contracts for their use. This suspension shall also apply to cases where one year has not elapsed since the conclusion of the contract.

3. In the cases provided for by paragraph 2 of this article, the client shall be exempted from the obligations provided for by the respective contract.

Article 4

1. The Unified Service Centre of the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry ('Division') shall receive relevant applications and provide relevant services through:

a) incoming calls to the telephone number 2 41 42 42;

b) incoming letters/applications to the e-mail address: patrolinfo@mia.gov.ge.

2. In accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, if necessary, in order to provide a relevant service, an appropriate employee of the Unified Service Centre of the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry ('Division') shall be authorised to communicate with a person via a video call.

Article 5

1. The Legal Entity under Public Law called the State Material Reserves and Public Safety Service Agency operating under the sub-agency Emergency Management Service of the Ministry ('the Service Agency') shall temporarily suspend the following services:

a) the development of fire safety measures;

b) the development of emergency prevention and response requirements;

c) the inspection of fire protection equipment and systems of facilities (other than those subject to state fire supervision) and the conclusion of the relevant administrative act;

d) the training of the population in fire safety rules;

e) the training of the population in the rules of conduct in emergency situations, as well as the organisation of emergency management;

f) the development of evacuation plans for buildings.

2. The following services shall be carried out remotely, in an electronic form:

a) technical consultation with specialists on issues of fire safety;

b) technical consultation with specialists on the protection of the population and the territory from emergency situations;

c) the development of organisational and technical solutions (technical conditions) in order to comply with the requirements of fire safety;

d) the development of organisational and technical solutions for the purpose of preventing emergency situations and ensuring emergency response requirements;

e) determining the compliance of buildings (other than those subject to state fire supervision and belonging to a civil security category) with the norms of fire safety regulations, technical regulations and/or standards, and the preparation of appropriate proposals;

f) establishing the compliance of facilities (other than those subject to state fire supervision and belonging to a civil security category) and documentation with the norms of fire safety regulations, technical regulations and/or standards, and the preparation of appropriate proposals.

3. The Service Agency shall receive applications and provide services through the e-mail address: service@es.gov.ge.

Article 6

The Chairperson of a legal entity under public law operating within the system of the Ministry shall, with the agreement of a Curator Deputy Minister (if any), be authorised to determine the working days, working hours and working schedule of the employees of the legal entity under public law with an administrative act.

Article 7

The Order No 17 of 19 March 2020 of the Minister of Internal Affairs on Temporary Suspension of Some Services of the Legal Entity under Public Law called Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in Order to Prevent the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and on the Determination of Some Conditions on Exemption from Certain Fees provided for by the Law of Georgia on the Fees and Terms for the Services of the Legal Entity under Public Law called Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia shall be declared invalid.

Article 8

This Order shall enter into force upon its promulgation.

Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia              Vakhtang Gomelauri