2021 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 11 - Offenses Against Public Order and Safety
Article 1 - Treason and Other Subversive Activities
Part 1 - General Provisions
§ 16-11-1. Treason
- A person owing allegiance to the state commits the offense of treason when he knowingly levies war against the state, adheres to her enemies, or gives them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of the offense of treason except on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act or on confession in open court. When the overt act of treason is committed outside this state, the person charged therewith may be tried in any county in this state.
- A person convicted of the offense of treason shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life or for not less than 15 years.
(Laws 1833, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 782; Code 1863, § 4212; Code 1868, § 4247; Code 1873, § 4313; Code 1882, §§ 4313, 5019; Penal Code 1895, §§ 51, 52, 53; Penal Code 1910, §§ 51, 52, 53; Code 1933, §§ 26-801, 26-802, 26-803; Code 1933, § 26-2201, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 16.)
Cross references.- Treason generally, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XIX.
Time limitation on prosecutions for crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, § 17-3-1.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Punishment of death does not invariably violate Constitution. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S. Ct. 2909, 49 L. Ed. 2d 859 (1976).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 70 Am. Jur. 2d, Sedition, Subversive Activities, and Treason, §§ 1, 3.
C.J.S.- 87 C.J.S., Treason, § 1 et seq.
