If the court finds that you have overstepped the permissible borders of criticism and defamed another person, the sanctions applied to you must be proportional. Overly severe sanctions can still violate freedom of expression even if your statements have amounted to defamation.
example The amount of compensation for the defamatory expressions should not be so high as to lead the media to insolvency or to deter the particular journalist from reporting on matters of public interest again.
Liability for defamation
According to Georgian legislation, a person shall bear responsibility under the civil law for defamation of a private or public person if the plaintiff proves that the statement against them contains substantially false facts that causes the moral damages. Civil remedies may include monetary compensation, an obligation to retract the defamatory statements or an apology. In choosing the type of remedy or amount of compensation, the courts must balance the gravity of the damage to a person’s reputation and the importance of freedom of expression of the other person.
example If the court of final instance awards compensation which is approximately four times larger than previously awarded by courts in defamation cases, this will not be proportional, unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying such an amount of damages.