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Constitution of the State of Georgia

Article VI. JUDICIAL BRANCH · Article VI. JUDICIAL BRANCH · Section VII. SELECTION, TERM, COMPENSATION, AND DISCIPLINE OF JUDGES

Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. VI. Judicial Qualifications Commission; power; composition.

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

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  1. (a)

    The General Assembly shall by general law create and provide for the composition, manner of appointment, and governance of a Judicial Qualifications Commission, with such commission having the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of judges as provided by this Article. Appointments to the Judicial Qualifications Commission shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate as provided for by general law.#

  2. (b)

    The procedures of the Judicial Qualifications Commission shall comport with due process. Such procedures and advisory opinions issued by the Judicial Qualifications Commission shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court.#

  3. (c)

    The Judicial Qualifications Commission which existed on June 30, 2017, is hereby abolished.#

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. Const. 1983, Art. 6, § 7, Para. 6; Ga. L. 2016, p. 878, § 1/HR 1113.

Editor's notes

The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 2016, p. 878, § 1/HR 1113), which abolished the existing Judicial Qualifications Commission and created a new Judicial Qualifications Commission, was ratified at the general election held on November 8, 2016.

Other notes

regulate judicial organizations.
Judicial Qualifications Commission’s authority was limited to disciplining individual judges. Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. VI and VII, and did not extend to dictating whether the Georgia Council of State Court Judges could file an amicus brief in pending litigation; the Council was permitted to file such briefs pursuant to its duties and authority under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. IX, Para. I, and O.C.G.A. § 15-7-26(b), although individual judges generally could not. In re Judicial Qualifications Comm’n Formal Advisory Opinion No. 241, 301 Ga. 54, 799 S.E.2d 781, 2017 Ga. LEXIS 319 (2017). Judicial Qualifications Commission was not authorized to pronounce the law in unsettled areas; therefore, its formal advisory opinion regarding the unsettled areas regarding whether the right of public access to the courts extended to children, or whether inquiries by security personnel amounted to a closure of the courts, exceeded its authority. In re Judicial Qualifications Comm’n Formal Advisory Opinion No. 239, 300 Ga. 291, 794 S.E.2d 631, 2016 Ga. LEXIS 777 (2016).

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 2ga-const-(v2)-pdf.pdf, Volume V2, 2016 edition, 2025 supplement, page 103; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 6dc4b5d1cb11.