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Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 9. CIVIL PRACTICE · Chapter 4. DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS

9-4-2. Declaratory judgments authorized; force and effect.

Active2 versions printed

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Effective July 1, 2026.In force today: Effective July 1, 2026.
  1. (a)

    In cases of actual controversy, the respective superior courts of this state and the Georgia State-wide Business Court and the Georgia Tax Court shall have power, upon petition or other appropriate pleading, to declare rights and other legal relations of any interested party petitioning for such declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be prayed; and the declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and be reviewable as such.#

  2. (b)

    In addition to the cases specified in subsection (a) of this Code section, the respective superior courts of this state and the Georgia State-wide Business Court and the Georgia Tax Court shall have power, upon petition or other appropriate pleading, to declare rights and other legal relations of any interested party petitioning for the declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be prayed, in any civil case in which it appears to the court that the ends of justice require that the declaration should be made; and the declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and be reviewable as such.#

  3. (c)

    Relief by declaratory judgment shall be available, notwithstanding the fact that the complaining party has any other adequate legal or equitable remedy or remedies.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1945, p. 137, § 1; Ga. L. 1959, p. 236, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 9; Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 3-1/HB 239; Ga. L. 2024, p. 888, § 2-6/HB 1267, effective July 1, 2026.

Delayed effective date

Code Section 9-4-2 is set out twice in this Code. This version is effective July 1, 2026. For version effective until July 1, 2026, see the preceding version.

Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2026, inserted “and the Georgia Tax Court” in subsections (a) and (b).

Editor's notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 888, § 4-1(a)/HB 1267, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the 2024 amendments to this Code section shall only become effective on July 1, 2026, upon the ratification of a resolution at the November, 2024, state-wide general election that amends the Constitution so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for the establishment of the Georgia Tax Court with state-wide jurisdiction. If such a resolution is not so ratified, then the amendments to this Code section shall not become effective and shall stand repealed on January 1, 2025. The constitutional amendment proposed in Ga. L. 2024, p. 1189, authorizing the establishment of the state-wide Georgia Tax Court, was approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting at the general election held on November 5, 2024.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t9-ch1-10-(v6)-pdf.pdf, Volume V6, 2023 edition, 2025 supplement, pages 22 to 23; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 a84b26444940.

Effective until July 1, 2026.No longer in force as printed (Effective until July 1, 2026.)
  1. (a)

    In cases of actual controversy, the respective superior courts of this state and the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall have power, upon petition or other appropriate pleading, to declare rights and other legal relations of any interested party petitioning for such declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be prayed; and the declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and be reviewable as such.#

  2. (b)

    In addition to the cases specified in subsection (a) of this Code section, the respective superior courts of this state and the Georgia State-wide Business Court shall have power, upon petition or other appropriate pleading, to declare rights and other legal relations of any interested party petitioning for the declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be prayed, in any civil case in which it appears to the court that the ends of justice require that the declaration should be made; and the declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and be reviewable as such.#

  3. (c)

    Relief by declaratory judgment shall be available, notwithstanding the fact that the complaining party has any other adequate legal or equitable remedy or remedies.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1945, p. 137, § 1; Ga. L. 1959, p. 236, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 9; Ga. L. 2019, p. 845, § 3-1/HB 239.

Delayed effective date

Code Section 9-4-2 is set out twice in this Code. This version is effective until July 1, 2026. For version effective July 1, 2026, see the following version.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t9-ch1-10-(v6)-pdf.pdf, Volume V6, 2023 edition, 2025 supplement, pages 21 to 22; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 a84b26444940.