Court Opinion

ID: 9586272
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:09:00.727193+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:27:31.395782
License: Public Domain

*257Grice, Chief Justice,
concurring.
In my view there is no public policy which requires that a divorce be granted only upon the appearance and oral testimony of the complainant.
In the Reynolds case, 217 Ga. 234, supra, the writer, speaking for himself and the then Justice Mobley, on pages 276-277 expressed that view, which warrants restatement here.
"Regardless of what may be the practice in any other jurisdiction, such as the District of Columbia, I find no basis, either in statutes or decisions of the courts of this state for the holding made here. True, the law does and should hinder facility in the procurement of divorces. But it does not require any different method for presenting the evidence which authorizes the divorce. In fact, the legislature of this state has recently provided that 'The same rules of pleading and practice applicable to ordinary civil actions, including those laws relating to the appearance day and the trial or "return” term of cases shall apply to actions for divorce ...’ (Ga. L. 1958, p. 315; Code Ann. § 30-113). It is easy to contemplate situations where one party to a marriage, who has sued for divorce, is, due to providential cause, unable to attend the trial and thus cannot appear personally to establish a deserving case for divorce. Could it be soundly contended that under those circumstances his grounds could not be established by his written testimony read at the trial? If such were the rule, many miscarriages of justice would result, particularly where property rights are involved.
"In this State, while there may be practices or customs obtaining in particular jurisdictions that parties present their evidence by personal appearance, it is a fact that literally thousands of valid divorces have been obtained through testimony taken either by oral depositions or written interrogatories. The holding here, as to the necessity for personal appearance, although confined to the facts of the instant case, is a departure and is, in my view, unauthorized.”
What was said some thirteen years ago still applies today. In this connection Code Ann. § 30-113, supra, has since been amended so as to provide in material part as *258follows: "The same rules of pleading and practice applicable to ordinary civil actions shall apply to actions for divorce, alimony and custody of minor children . . .” Ga. L. 1967, pp. 226, 246.
I find no valid basis for the contention made here by the minority that the party seeking a divorce must be physically present and give oral testimony.