---
title: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-7. When infraction of public duty gives cause of action to individual.
collection: code
id: 51-1-7
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-7 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-7
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-7.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-7/text
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=62
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
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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
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: TORTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 51-1-7. When infraction of public duty gives cause of action to individual.

Injury suffered in common with the community, though to a greater extent, will not give a right of action to an individual for the infraction of some public duty. In order for an individual to have such a right of action, there must be some special damage to him, in which the public has not participated.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2895; Code 1868, § 2901; Code 1873, § 2952; Code 1882, § 2952; Civil Code 1895, § 3808; Civil Code 1910, § 4404; Code 1933, § 105-102.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Georgia’s Public Duty Doctrine: The Supreme Court Held Hostage,’’ see 51 Mercer L. Rev. 73 (1999).

For comment, ‘‘The Officer Has No Robes: A Formalist Solution to the Expan-sion of Quasi-Judicial Immunity,’’ see 66 Emory L.J. 123 (2016).