2021 Georgia Code
Title 5 - Appeal and Error
Chapter 4 - Certiorari to Superior Court
§ 5-4-3. Petition for Certiorari to Inferior Judicatories Generally

When either party in any case in any inferior judicatory or before any person exercising judicial powers is dissatisfied with the decision or judgment in the case, the party may apply for and obtain a writ of certiorari by petition to the superior court for the county in which the case was tried, in which petition he shall plainly and distinctly set forth the errors complained of. On the filing of the petition in the office of the clerk of the superior court, with the sanction of the appropriate judge endorsed thereon, together with the bond or affidavit, as provided in Code Section 5-4-5, it shall be the duty of the clerk to issue a writ of certiorari, directed to the tribunal or person whose decision or judgment is the subject matter of complaint, requiring the tribunal or person to certify and send up all the proceedings in the case to the superior court, as directed in the writ of certiorari.

(Laws 1850, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 529; Code 1863, § 3960; Code 1868, § 3980; Code 1873, § 4052; Ga. L. 1878-79, p. 153, § 7; Code 1882, § 4052; Civil Code 1895, § 4637; Civil Code 1910, § 5183; Code 1933, § 19-203.)

- For annual survey on zoning and land use law, see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 371 (2017). For annual survey on zoning and land use law, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 301 (2018).

ANALYSIS

• General Consideration
• Bond
• Decisions from Which Certiorari Is Available
• Petition for Certiorari

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Writ granted only when error complained of is erroneous as a matter of law.

- Under this section, writ of certiorari may be granted only when the judgment complained of is erroneous as a matter of law, and a petition seeking such writ must set forth legal errors committed in police court or other inferior tribunal and pray their correction by superior court. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 96.

Appeals from a municipal court conviction of a traffic offense may lie in the Court of Appeals or in the superior court depending on the status of the municipal court and the nature of the offense. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-18.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 14 Am. Jur. 2d, Certiorari, § 52 et seq.

5B Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice Forms, Certiorari, §§ 81, 88.

- 14 C.J.S., Certiorari, § 30. 51 C.J.S., Justices of the Peace, § 430 et seq.