Court Opinion

ID: 9846758
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:48:00.797121+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:47.804795
License: Public Domain

*70Gregory, Justice,
concurring specially.
The majority opinion holds that the use of the words “sue and be sued” in relationship to the powers of the bodies involved is a waiver of sovereign immunity. I am not persuaded that these words should now be given that interpretation. This is particularly so in view of the specific power placed in the General Assembly concerning waiver of sovereign immunity contained in the State Court of Claims amendment to the Constitution (Ga. L. 1973, p. 1489). It may be that these words do not relate at all to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. They can be construed to merely describe the nature of the entity in question as one to be recognized as capable of coming into and being brought into our courts as a party, much as the phrase is used regarding individuals and corporations in Code Ann. § 81A-117(b). If the General Assembly wishes to exercise its power to waive sovereign immunity, it should be expressed in clear unambiguous language so that this court is left with no doubts as to the intention of the General Assembly. However, regardless of the interpretation we might now place on these words, it is clear that our courts have in the past given them the meaning the majority opinion now gives them. First Dist. Agricultural &c. School v. Reynolds, 11 Ga. App. 650 (75 SE 1060) (1912). It is this interpretation of these words which was incorporated into the Constitution of 1945. A constitutional provision is to be construed in the sense in which it was understood by the framers and the people at the time of its adoption. Collins v. Mills, 198 Ga. 18 (1) (30 SE2d 866) (1944). Where the language in our constitution does not indicate an intention to declare some new principle, sound construction requires that it be construed to have intended no more than merely to state the law as it existed at that time. Griffin v. Vandergriff, 205 Ga. 288 (1) (53 SE2d 345) (1949). The interpretation we might give these words today is unimportant. Only that interpretation incorporated into the Constitution concerns us in this particular case. The waiver of sovereign immunity was incorporated into the Constitution.