O.C.G.A. § 16-1-11 (2019)
Effect of repeal or amendment of criminal law on prosecution of prior violations
The repeal, repeal and reenactment, or amendment of any law of this state which prohibits any act or omission to act and which provides for any criminal penalty therefor, whether misdemeanor, misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, or felony, shall not affect or abate the status as a crime of any such act or omission which occurred prior to the effective date of the Act repealing, repealing and reenacting, or amending such law, nor shall the prosecution of such crime be abated as a
result of such repeal, repeal and reenactment, or amendment unless the General Assembly expressly declares otherwise in the Act repealing, repealing and reenacting, or amending such law.
History
Code 1981, § 16-1-11, enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 260, § 1.
Annotations
Editor’s notes. - The title of Ga. L. 1987, p. 260, declares the purpose of the Act which enacted this Code section is ‘‘to
supersede and abolish the rule of common law stated by the Supreme Court of Georgia in the case of Robinson v. State, 256 Ga. 564, 350 S.E.2d 464 (1986).’’
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Prosecution of persons designated habitual violators before January 1, 1991. - Holding of the Court of Appeals in Galletta v. Hardison, 168 Ga. App. 36 (1983) is applicable solely to appeals from driver’s license revocations by the Georgia Department of Public Safety and individuals designated as habitual violators prior to January 1, 1991, based upon one or
more convictions for driving with a suspended license who drive prior to obtaining reinstatement of their driving privileges by the Department of Public Safety. These groups are subject to felony prosecution pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 40-5-58(c) notwithstanding the 1990 amendment to that Code Section. 1992 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U92-5.