---
title: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6. Recovery of damages upon breach of legal duty.
collection: code
id: 51-1-6
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-6
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-6.md
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source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t51-(v39)-2017-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=6b891965_0#page=45
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: TORTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6. Recovery of damages upon breach of legal duty.

When the law requires a person to perform an act for the benefit of another or to refrain from doing an act which may injure another, although no cause of action is given in express terms, the injured party may recover for the breach of such legal duty if he suffers damage thereby.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2896; Code 1868, § 2902; Code 1873, § 2953; Code 1882, § 2953; Civil Code 1895, § 3809; Civil Code 1910, § 4405; Code 1933, § 105-103.

## Cross References

Liability for acts of intoxicated persons, § 51-1-40.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Labor and Employment Law,’’ see 53 Mercer L. Rev. 349 (2001). For annual survey on torts, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 287 (2012).

For comment on Buttrum v. Buttrum, 98 Ga. App. 226, 105 S.E.2d 510 (1958), holding that an unemancipated minor child may maintain an action in tort against a parent for personal injuries provided that it is a willful and malicious act so cruel as to constitute forfeiture of parental authority, see 21 Ga. B. J. 559 (1959). For comment on Cox v. DeJarnette, 104 Ga. App. 664, 123 S.E.2d 16 (1961), allowing recovery in tort from the liability insurance policy of a charity, see 14 Mercer L. Rev. 463 (1963). For comment on Williams v. Hospital Auth., 119 Ga. App. 626, 168 S.E.2d 336 (1969), see 6 Ga. St. B. J. 209 (1969). For comment on Parker v. Vaughan, 124 Ga. App. 300, 183 S.E.2d 605 (1971), see 8 Ga. St. B. J. 244 (1971).