O.C.G.A. § 15-2-4 (2019)
Place of sessions; terms of court
(a) The Supreme Court shall sit at the seat of government.
(b) Unless the Supreme Court by rule or order chooses to extend its terms of court, the terms shall be as follows:
(1) December term beginning the first Monday in December;
(2) April term beginning the first Monday in April; and
(3) August term beginning the first Monday in August.
(c) Each term shall continue until the business for that term has been disposed of by the court, provided that, unless sooner closed by order of the court, the August term shall end on November 18, the December term shall end on March 31, and the April term shall end on July 17. No judgment in a second-term case, other than a judgment on a motion for reconsideration in such case, shall be rendered during the last 15 days of any term. Disposition of first-term cases may be made during nonterm periods.
History
Laws 1845, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 448; Code 1863, § 3158; Code 1868, § 3170; Code 1873, § 3238; Code 1882, § 3238; Ga. L. 1884-85, p. 45, § 1; Civil Code 1895, § 5494; Civil Code 1910, § 6099; Code 1933, § 24-3801; Ga. L. 1935, p. 161, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 956, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 430, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 360, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1, § 1; Ga. L. 2016, p. 883, § 5-1/HB 927.
Annotations
Editor’s notes. - Ga. L. 2016, p. 883, § 1-1/HB 927, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: ‘‘This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Appellate Jurisdiction Reform Act of 2016.’ ’’
Ga. L. 2016, p. 883, § 6-1(e)/HB 927, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: ‘‘Part V of this Act shall become effective on December 5, 2016, and upon such date the December term of court shall begin as provided by this Act; provided, however, that the term of court which began on the first Monday in September, 2016, under the former provisions of Code Section 15-2-4 shall end on December 16, 2016.’’
Law reviews. - For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 205 (2016).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Rulemaking authority. - Supreme Court has the authority under the Constitution to determine cases under such regulations as are prescribed by it. This was so because former Ga. Const. 1945, Art. VI, Sec. II, Para. VII, prevailed over this section. Fuller v. State, 232 Ga. 581, 208 S.E.2d 85 (1974).
Although former Ga. Const. 1945, Art. VI, Sec. II, Para. VII, relied upon in Fuller v. State, 232 Ga. 581, 208 S.E.2d 85 (1974), was not included in either the 1976 or the 1983 Constitution, the Supreme Court still may establish under the Supreme Court’s inherent power whatever rules are necessary to determine the
cases which come before the court. Shore v. Shore, 253 Ga. 183, 318 S.E.2d 57 (1984). Power to suspend rules. - Inherent power to make rules includes the concomitant power to suspend the rules in an appropriate case, enabling the Supreme Court to decide a case within the last 15 days of a term. Shore v. Shore, 253 Ga. 183, 318 S.E.2d 57 (1984). Cited in Kinney v. Crow, 186 Ga. 851,
199 S.E. 198 (1938); Ramsey v. State, 212 Ga. 381, 92 S.E.2d 866 (1956); Tamplin v. State, 235 Ga. 774, 221 S.E.2d 455 (1975); R.J. v. State, 143 Ga. App. 213, 237 S.E.2d 691 (1977); Haygood v. City of Doraville, 256 Ga. 566, 350 S.E.2d 766 (1986); Stuckey v. Richardson, 188 Ga. App. 147, 372 S.E.2d 458 (1988); Namik v. Wachovia Bank of Ga., 279 Ga. 250, 612 S.E.2d 270 (2005); Gordon v. Dennis, 347 Ga. App. 110, 817 S.E.2d 561 (2018).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 20 Am. Jur. 2d, Courts, § 16 et seq. C.J.S. - 21 C.J.S., Courts, § 149 et seq.
ALR. - Validity of court’s judgment rendered on Sunday or holiday, 85 A.L.R.2d 595.