Court Opinion

ID: 9585221
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:57:45.109261+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:36:02.856071
License: Public Domain

Eberhardt, Judge,
concurring specially. I concur fully as to all holdings save that in the last paragraph of Judge Bell's opinion, and concur specially as to that. I must agree that in Sirmans v. Allen, 221 Ga. 703, supra, the Supreme Court has indicated that the denial of a summary judgment may be appealed, but no explanation of the apparent holding is carried in that case. It appears to be in conflict with the provisions of the Summary Judgments Act (Ga. L. 1959, pp. 234, 236; Code Ann. § 110-1208), that the denial of a summary judgment is not appealable. If this can now be done it is apparently on the theory of a repeal by implication of that provision by § 1 (a) (2) of the Appellate Practice Act of 1965 (Ga. L. 1965, p. 18; Code Ann. § 6-701 (a) (2)). Since repeals by implication are not generally favored, and since the provision of the Summary Judgments Act is re-enacted in § 56 (h) of the Civil Practice Act of 1966 (Ga. L. 1966, p. 609), it may well be doubted that a repeal was intended by the legislature. Moreover, I find it difficult to square Sirmans v. Allen with Burnam v. Wilkerson, 217 Ga. 657 (1) (124 SE2d 389), where it was held that no conflict existed between the provision of the Summary Judgments Act (Code Ann. *35§ 110-1208), that the denial of a summary judgment is not appealable, and former Code § 6-701, wherein an appealable judgment was defined in substantially the same terms as in the Appellate Practice Act of 1965 (Code Ann. § 6-701 (a) (2)).
There is the possibility that since the main appeal is from an appealable judgment under § 1 (a) (1) of the Appellate Practice Act of 1965 (Code Ann. § 6-701 (a) (1)), the cross appellant may be entitled to have the denial of his motion for summary judgment reviewed under § 1 (a) (3) (b) of the Act (Code Ann. § 6-701 (a) (3) (b)) providing for review of “all judgments, rulings or orders rendered in the case which are raised on appeal and which may affect the proceedings below . . . without regard t'o the appealability of such judgment, ruling or order standing alone. . However, this identical language was in former Code § 6-701 and was before the court in Burnam v. Wilkerson, 217 Ga. 657, supra, where the appeal was from the overruling of a general demurrer as well as from the denial of a summary judgment.
In any event this question is now certified to the Supreme Court for resolution in another pending case. It may be desirable to afford an appeal from the denial of a summary judgment, but, as I see it, this is not the apparent legislative intent. Whatever the present situation, the attention of the bar is directed to the fact that a denial of a summary judgment will not be appealable when the Civil Practice Act becomes effective March 1, 1967, unless a rule different from that in Burnam is to be applied.