Georgia Commons

Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 24. EVIDENCE · Chapter 5. PRIVILEGES

24-5-502. Communications to clergy privileged.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. Every communication made by any person professing religious faith, seeking spiritual comfort, or seeking counseling to any Protestant minister of the Gospel, any priest of the Roman Catholic faith, any priest of the Greek Orthodox Catholic faith, any Jewish rabbi, or any Christian or Jewish minister or similar functionary, by whatever name called, shall be deemed privileged. No such minister, priest, rabbi, or similar functionary shall disclose any communications made to him or her by any such person professing religious faith, seeking spiritual guidance, or seeking counseling, nor shall such minister, priest, rabbi, or similar functionary be competent or compellable to testify with reference to any such communication in any court.

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 24-5-502, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 2/HB 24.

Law reviews

For note discussing confidential communication privileges in Georgia, see 2 Ga. St. B.J. 356 (1966). For comment, “The Psychotherapist-Client Testimonial Privilege: Defining the Professional Involved,” see 34 Emory L.J. 777 (1985). For note, “Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting Laws in Georgia: Strengthening Protection for Georgia’s Children,” see 31 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 643 (2015). For comment, “Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting Laws in Georgia: Strengthening Protection for Georgia’s Children,” see 31 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 643 (2015). For annual survey on domestic relations, see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 83 (2017).

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t24-ch1-7-(v20)-2023-pdf.pdf, Volume V20, 2023 edition, page 375; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 f2f9d1712dd4.

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O.C.G.A. § 24-5-502. Communications to clergy privileged. | Georgia Commons