Constitution of the State of Georgia

Article VI. JUDICIAL BRANCH · Article VI. JUDICIAL BRANCH · Section VI. SUPREME COURT

Art. VI, Sec. VI, Para. VI. Decisions of Supreme Court binding.

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

A constitution provision shown as in force is in force as printed in the volume. A court decision can make a printed provision unenforceable without changing the volume, and the volume does not record that.

The decisions of the Supreme Court shall bind all other courts as precedents.

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.

Other notes

1976 Constitution.: Art. VI, Sec. II, Para. VIII.
In general.: See Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Glawson, 140 Ga. 507, 79 S.E. 136 (1913); Holmes v. Southern Ry., 145 Ga. 172, 88 S.E. 924 (1916). The decisions of the Supreme Court shall bind the Court of Appeals as precedents, and the Court of Appeals is not authorized by this paragraph to request a review by the Supreme Court of a decision rendered by the Supreme Court. Cargile v. State, 194 Ga. 20, 20 S.E.2d 416, answer conformed to, 67 Ga. App. 610, 21 S.E.2d 326 (1942) (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Para. VI).
Unanimity not required.: A decision rendered by a divided Supreme Court is authoritative as a precedent, and, although a decision of the Supreme Court may have been rendered by a divided court, the Court of Appeals is nevertheless bound thereby. Western & A.R.R. v. Michael, 43 Ga. App. 703, 160 S.E. 93 (1931). As to the Court of Appeals, a Supreme Court decision is a binding precedent even though not unanimous. Life Ins. Co. v. Lawler, 211 Ga. 246, 85 S.E.2d 1 (1954). Court of Appeals has no authority to overrule or modify decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Adams v. State, 174 Ga. App. 558, 331 S.E.2d 29 (1985); Etkind v. Suarez, 234 Ga. App. 108, 505 S.E.2d 831 (1998), aff’d, 271 Ga. 352, 519 S.E.2d 210 (1999). The Appellate Court of Georgia was without authority to abolish or modify the Supreme Court’s determination that constitutional challenges must be raised before the jury returns a verdict. Nahid v. State, 276 Ga. App. 687, 624 S.E.2d 264 (2005). Decisions of the Georgia Court of Appeals that were inconsistent with Georgia Supreme Court precedent
were not binding.: Following the defendant’s conviction for attempted murder, there was no change in the law because McNair v. State, 293 Ga. 282 (2013), applying the rule of lenity when there was ambiguity between two felony punishments, was dictated by the Supreme Court’s own precedents. Contrary cases by the Georgia Court of Appeals were never binding precedents. Rollf v. Carter, 298 Ga. 557, No. S15A1505, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 195 (2016).
Declaratory ruling.: Litigants who argued that a prior decision of the court was not a genuine case or controversy between adversaries and that the prior litigation was ‘‘arranged’’ solely to elicit a declaratory ruling on the constitutionality of a statute were not availed because the court had previously ruled that the statute, O.C.G.A. § 36-60-13, was constitutional under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, § V, Para. I(a), and that prior decision was binding on any lower court faced with an argument that the statute was not constitutional. Bauerband v. Jackson County, 278 Ga. 222, 598 S.E.2d 444 (2004). Cited in State v. Benton, 168 Ga. App. 665, 310 S.E.2d 243 (1983); Lane Co. v. Taylor, 174 Ga. App. 356, 330 S.E.2d 112 (1985); Thompson v. Crownover, 186 Ga. App. 633, 368 S.E.2d 170 (1988); W.R. Grace & Co. v. Mouyal, 959 F.2d 219 (11th Cir. 1992); Conner v. State, 205 Ga. App. 564, 422 S.E.2d 872 (1992); Atlanta Gas Light Co. v. Georgia Pub. Serv. Comm’n, 212 Ga. App. 575, 442 S.E.2d 860 (1994); National Health Network, Inc. v. Fulton County, 228 Ga. App. 584, 492 S.E.2d 333 (1997); Zachery v. State, 233 Ga. App. 519, 504 S.E.2d 466 (1998); Flores v. State, 298 Ga. App. 574, 680 S.E.2d 609 (2009); State v. Smith, 308 Ga. App. 345, 707 S.E.2d 560 (2011); Jenkins v. Smith, 308 Ga. App. 762, 709 S.E.2d 23 (2011); Bunn v. State, 291 Ga. 183, 728 S.E.2d 569 (2012); Tender Loving Health Care Servs. of Ga., LLC v. Ehrlich, 318 Ga. App. 560, 734 S.E.2d 276 (2012); Sherman v. Atlanta Indep. Sch. Sys., 293 Ga. 268, 744 S.E.2d 26 (2013); Southern LNG, Inc. v. MacGinnitie, 294 Ga. 657, 755 S.E.2d 683 (2014); Financial Education Services, Inc. v. State, No. A15A2311, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 104 (Mar. 1, 2016).

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

Text read from 2ga-const-(v2)-2016-pdf.pdf, Volume V2, 2016 edition, pages 1133 to 1134; merge action: annotated; file SHA-256 1b27199d8655.