---
title: O.C.G.A. § 24-6-603. Oath or affirmation.
collection: code
id: 24-6-603
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 24-6-603 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/24-6-603
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text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/24-6-603/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t24-ch1-7-(v20)-2023-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=27d520aa_0#page=466
date: 2025
status: active
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heading_path: EVIDENCE / WITNESSES / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 24-6-603. Oath or affirmation.

(a) Before testifying, every witness shall be required to declare that he or she will testify truthfully by oath or affirmation administered in a form calculated to awaken the witness’s conscience and impress the witness’s mind with the duty to do so.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, in all proceedings involving dependency as defined by Code Section 15-11-2, in all proceedings involving termination of parental rights under Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 15, and in all criminal proceedings in which a child was a victim of or witness to any crime, the child shall be competent to testify, and the child’s credibility shall be determined as provided in this chapter.

## History

Code 1981, § 24-6-603, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 2/HB 24; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-41/HB 242; Ga. L. 2023, p. 374, § 1/SB 134, effective July 1, 2023.

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, inserted “, in all proceedings involving termination of parental rights under Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 15,” in the middle of subsection (b).

## Cross References

Testimony as to child’s description of sexual contact or physical abuse, § 24-8-820.

Oath or affirmation to testify truthfully, Fed. R. Evid. 603.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions.”

## Law Reviews

For comment discussing the effect of mental unsoundness on the competency of witnesses, in light of O’Shea v. Jewel Tea Co., 233 F.2d 530 (9th Cir. 1956), see 19 Ga. B.J. 533 (1957).

For comment on Western & A.R.R. v. Hart, 95 Ga. App. 810, 99 S.E.2d 302 (1957), holding that the accuracy of the opinion of a 12 year old as to the speed of a train is a matter for the jury to decide and its admission into evidence was not error, see 20 Ga. B.J. 395 (1958).

For comment on Bacon v. State, 222 Ga. 151, 149 S.E.2d 111 (1966), see 18 Mercer L. Rev. 506 (1967).

For article, “The Need for a Special Exception to the Hearsay Rule in Child Sexual Abuse Cases,” see 21 Ga. St. B.J. 50 (1984).

For article, “An Analysis of Georgia’s Proposed Rules of Evidence,” see 26 Ga. St. B.J. 173 (1990).

For note, “The Georgia Child Hearsay Statute, and the Sixth Amendment: Is There a Confrontation?,” see 10 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 367 (1994).