---
title: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-8. Right of action arising from breach of private duty.
collection: code
id: 51-1-8
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 51-1-8 (2025)
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md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-1-8.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=64
date: 2025
status: active
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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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heading_path: TORTS / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 51-1-8. Right of action arising from breach of private duty.

Private duties may arise from statute or from relations created by contract, express or implied. The violation of a private duty, accompanied by damage, shall give a right of action.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2897; Code 1868, § 2903; Code 1873, § 2954; Code 1882, § 2954; Civil Code 1895, § 3810; Civil Code 1910, § 4406; Code 1933, § 105-104.

## Law Reviews

For article, ‘‘Statutes of Limitation: Counterproductive Complexities,’’ see 37 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (1985). For article, ‘‘Labor and Employment Law,’’ see 53 Mercer L. Rev. 349 (2001).

For note discussing landlord liability for crime in apartments, see 5 Ga. L. Rev. 349 (1971). For note discussing tavern keeper liability in Georgia for injury caused by a person to whom an intoxicant was sold, see 9 Ga. L. Rev. 239 (1974).

For comment on Parker v. Vaughn, 124 Ga. App. 300, 183 S.E.2d 605 (1971), see 8 Ga. St. B. J. 244 (1971).