51-5-7. Privileged communications.

Orig. Code 1863, § 2922; Code 1868, § 2929; Code 1873, § 2980; Code 1882, § 2980; Ga. L. 1893, p. 131, § 2; Civil Code 1895, §§ 3836, 3840; Civil Code 1910, §§ 4432, 4436; Code 1933, §§ 105-704, 105-709; Ga. L. 1996, p. 260, § 2; Ga. L. 2016, p. 341, § 3/HB 513.

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, a semicolon was substituted for a period at the end of paragraph (4).

Privileged communications, § 24-5-501, et seq.

For article, ‘‘Defamation in Georgia Local Government Law: A Brief History,’’ see 16 Ga. L. Rev. 627 (1982). For article surveying torts law, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 271 (1982). For annual survey on law of torts, see 42 Mercer L. Rev. 431 (1990). For article, ‘‘Defamation and Invasion of Privacy,’’ see 27 Ga. St. B. J. 18 (1990). For annual survey article discussing developments in the law of evidence, see 51 Mercer L. Rev. 279 (1999). For survey article on zoning and land use law, see 60 Mercer L. Rev. 457 (2008). For annual survey of law on torts, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 317 (2010). For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 109 (2016). For note criticizing qualified privilege enjoyed by mercantile agencies and advocating absolute denial of such privilege, see 11 Mercer L. Rev. 221 (1959). For comment on Lamb v. Fedderwitz, 68 Ga. App. 233, 22 S.E.2d 657 (1942), see 5 Ga. B. J. 45 (1943). For comment regarding privileged communication by employer, in light of Cochran v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 72 Ga. App. 458, 34 S.E.2d 296 (1945), see 8 Ga. B. J. 225 (1945). For comment on Barwick v. Wind, 203 Ga. 827, 48 S.E.2d 523 (1948), see 11 Ga. B. J. 230 (1948). For comment regarding privilege of counsel’s publications during a trial when such statements are material and relevant, in light of Wall v. Blalock, 245 N.C. 219, 95 S.E.2d 450 (1956), see 8 Mercer L. Rev. 372 (1957). For comment on Walter v. Davidson, 214 Ga. 187, 104 S.E.2d 113 (1958), holding that defamatory statements made by a member of faculty before a chaplain, another member of faculty, are privileged as a result of their relationship as colleagues, see 21 Ga. B. J. 239 (1958). For comment on Savannah News Press, Inc. v. Grayson, 102 Ga. App. 59, 115 S.E.2d 762 (1960), see 23 Ga. B. J. 421 (1961). For comment, ‘‘Lee v. Dong-A Ilbo: Use of Official Report Privilege to Protect Defamatory Statements in Press Account Based on Foreign Government Report,’’ see 23 Ga. L. Rev. 275 (1988).

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, substituted ‘‘the person’s or entity’s right of petition or free speech under the Constitution’’ for ‘‘the right of free speech or the right to petition government for a redress of grievances under the Constitution’’ in paragraph (4).