---
title: O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5. Additional damages for aggravating circumstances.
collection: code
id: 51-12-5
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-12-5
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-12-5.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/51-12-5/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=864
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
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: TORTS / DAMAGES / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5. Additional damages for aggravating circumstances.

(a) In a tort action in which there are aggravating circumstances, in either the act or the intention, the jury may give additional damages to deter the wrongdoer from repeating the trespass or as compensation for the wounded feelings of the plaintiff.

(b) This Code section shall apply only to causes of action for torts arising before July 1, 1987.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2998; Code 1868, § 3011; Code 1873, § 3066; Code 1882, § 3066; Civil Code 1895, § 3906; Civil Code 1910, § 4503; Code 1933, § 105-2002; Ga. L. 1987, p. 915, § 4.

## Cross References

Punitive damages, § 51-12-5.1.

## Law Reviews

For article surveying torts law, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 271 (1982). For article, ‘‘Punitive Damages — Their Permissible Scope,’’ see 19 Ga. St. B. J. 118 (1983). For article discussing damages in an excess liability action, ‘‘The Liability Insurance Policy — Above and Beyond Coverage: Extra-Contractual Rights and Duties,’’ see 22 Ga. State Bar J. 137 (1986). For article, ‘‘The Torok Tort: Recovery for Abusive Litigation,’’ see 23 Ga. St. B. J. 84 (1987). For annual survey of the law of evidence, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 215 (1986). For article, ‘‘Nonjudicial Fore-closures in Georgia Revisited,’’ see 24 Ga. St. B. J. 43 (1987). For article, ‘‘Products Liability Law in Georgia Including Recent Developments,’’ see 43 Mercer L. Rev. 27 (1991).

For note, ‘‘Allowance of Punitive Damages in Products Liability Claims,’’ see 6 Ga. L. Rev. 613 (1972).

For comment on Atlanta Journal Co. v. Doyal, 31 Ga. App. 592, 60 S.E.2d 802 (1950), see 13 Ga. B. J. 234 (1950). For comment discussing admissibility of evidence of malice not previously pleaded, in light of Van Gundy v. Wilson, 84 Ga. App. 429, 66 S.E.2d 93 (1951), see 14 Ga. B. J. 358 (1952). For comment on Aderhold v. Zimmer, 86 Ga. App. 204, 71 S.E.2d 270 (1952), see 15 Ga. B. J. 355 (1953). For comment, ‘‘Are Excessive Punitive Damages Unconstitutional in Georgia?: This Question and More in Colonial Pipeline Co. v. Brown,’’ see 6 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 85 (1989).