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Call Now: 904-383-7448(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.
(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.
(c) The Judicial Qualifications Commission which existed on June 30, 2017, is hereby abolished.
(Ga. Const. 1983, Art. 6, § 7, Para. 6; Ga. L. 2016, p. 878, § 1/HR 1113.)
- Art. VI, Sec. XIII, Para. III.
- Rules of the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
- 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.
Coroners are not "judges" within the meaning of that term as it is used in Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. VI. In re Smith, 259 Ga. 831, 388 S.E.2d 683 (1990).
- 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).
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).
- The Judicial Qualifications Commission may expend funds to become a subscriber to the services of the Center for Judicial Conduct Organizations of the American Judicature Society. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-8.