Supreme Court. guished as the "Second Division," and its presiding justice shall be designated by the Chief Justice. Whenever the Chief Justice is absent, or disqualified, any duty devolving specially upon him shall be performed by the Associate Justice who has been longest in commission. 42. § 6257. Disposition of cases argued prior to 1897.-Any cases A. 1896, p. which shall have been argued, by brief or otherwise, before the present bench of three justices, and which shall not have been decided before the first day of January, 1897, may be taken up, considered, and decided by the court as a whole, without further argument, or the court may, upon its own motion, but not otherwise, order any of such cases reargued, if deemed expedient. $6258. Powers of either division; concurrence of all the justices. A. 1896, p. -Either division of the court shall have the power to issue the writ 42. of mandamus, or to take any other action necessary to the perfection of records, according to the practice which has heretofore prevailed in this court, and either division may render a final judgment in any case argued before it, and such judgment shall have the same force and effect as if rendered by the court as a whole; provided, nevertheless, that the court shall, as far as practicable, endeavor to so conduct its proceedings as to have the concurrence of all the justices in all judgments rendered, except in cases where there is an express dissent upon the part of one or more of them. 42. § 6259. Court as a whole may decide all cases; two justices only a. 1896, p. presiding. Every case argued before either division may be considered and decided by the court as a whole, or any one or more justices of the other division may participate in the decision thereof, without further argument; and where, for any reason, a case is heard in a division by only two justices, the Chief Justice shall direct one or more justices of the other division to participate in deciding it, or that it may be decided by the court as a whole. 42. § 6260. Division justice dissenting; reargument, when.-When- A. 1896, p. ever any justice in either division differs from the other two as to any particular case pending before it, such case shall go to the court as a whole for decision; and whenever it decides a case which has been argued before one division only, it may, upon its own motion, but not otherwise, order a reargument therein. § 6261. Concurrence of how many necessary to reversal; four A. 1896. p. sitting, equally divided, effect of.--In all cases decided by a full 42. bench of six justices, the concurrence of a majority shall be essential to a judgment of reversal, and if the justices are evenly divided, the judgment of the court below shall stand affirmed. In all cases decided by the court as a whole, with less than six justices, the concurrence of at least three shall be essential to the rendition of a judgment; and if only four justices act upon a case, and they are evenly divided, the case shall be reargued before a full bench, if possible, A. 1896, p. 42. A. 1896, p. 42. A. 1896, p. 42. Rules of the Supreme Court. before the term closes, and if not the judgment of the court below shall stand affirmed. § 6262. Minutes and reports to show which justices concurred and which dissented. Both the minutes and the printed official reports shall show how many and which justices concurred in each judgment rendered, and which, if any, dissented therefrom. 6263. Rules of Court, power to make.-Said court shall have full power and authority to make all such rules, not in conflict with the constitution or with this Act, or with any other law of this State, as may be necessary for carrying said amendment into effect and regulating its proceedings thereunder. To these ends it may, by such rules, provide and declare when the court shall sit "in a body," and when in separate divisions; how its minutes shall be kept, how the cases upon its dockets shall be apportioned and divided between the two divisions; at what times, and to what extent, changes shall be made in the personnel thereof, and generally to make all such regulations as to practice and procedure which experience may show to be convenient and expedient for the proper transaction of its business, with due regard to the rights of parties and counsel concerned. 86264 (5588). Decision of, how reversed.-[A decision rendered by the Supreme Court prior to the first day of January, 1897, and concurred in by three judges or justices], cannot be reversed or materially changed, except by the concurrence of at least five justices, and then after argument had, in which the decision, by permission of the Court, is expressly questioned and reviewed; and after such argument, the Court in its decision shall state distinctly whether it A. 1896, p. affirms, reverses, or changes such decision. [Unanimous decisions hereafter rendered by a full bench of six justices shall not be overruled or materially modified, except in the manner pointed out in this section, and then only with the concurrence of six justices.] 42. A. 1896, p. 42. $ 6265. Prior laws, how far of force.-All laws now of force relating to the Supreme Court shall, so far as may be practicable, and with such modifications as necessarily result from the ratification of said amendment, or from the passage of this Act, apply to said court after its reorganization thereunder, and all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed. PART I. TITLE IX. RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT. I. ATTORNEYS. $6266. RULE 1. Attorneys, how admitted.-Any member of the bar of the superior courts may be admitted to practice in this court, Rules of the Supreme Court. by either division thereof, upon his written application and the certificate of at least two attorneys of this court, that he is of good private and professional character. The oath required to be taken in open court is as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will demean myself as an attorney or counselor of this court uprightly and according to law; and that I will support the Constitution of the State of Georgia, and the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." On his admission, the applicant must pay to the clerk a fee of five dollars, and the clerk will issue to him a license, in proper form. under the seal of the court, as evidence of his authority to practice. Upon any satisfactory evidence in support of their application, attorneys of any of the courts of the United States, or of the highest court of any State or Territory, in good standing where they reside, may be admitted here, on taking the like oath and paying a like fee to the clerk. As matter of comity or professional courtesy, a visiting brother from another State, or from a Territory, may, by leave of the court, be heard as associate or even as leading counsel in a single case without being admitted as a regular practitioner. No such indulgence, however, will be extended to any attorney who is a resident of this State. § 6267. RULE 2. Agreements or consents to be in writing.—In the conduct of a case, no agreement or consent will be recognized or enforced which is not reduced to writing, signed by the parties or their counsel, and filed with the clerk. $ 6268. RULE 3. Argument.-Argument is limited to four hours upon each case, two hours on each side, unless by special leave an extension of time is granted, and none will be granted except on application made before the argument of the case is begun. Save when § 5581 of the Civil Code applies, only two counsel on each side will be heard. The plaintiff in error opens and concludes, and on motions the movant has the like privilege. $6269. RULE 4. Personal remarks.-Personal remarks discourteous to opposing counsel, or in disparagement of the judge whose decision is under review, are strictly prohibited. In the argument of cases counsel are entitled to all the latitude necessary to a full and fair discussion of the legal and constitutional questions involved in the assignments of error or other matter before the court, but they must not indulge in denunciation of any branch of the Government, State or Federal, nor call in question the integrity or impugn the motives of any official, unless he is on trial or otherwise a party to the record and his official conduct is properly the subject of scrutiny and adjudication. § 6269a. RULE 5. Waste of time or work.--As time is precious, and the necessary labor of the court is excessively onerous and exacting, every attorney is under obligation not to impose needless or un Rules of the Supreme Court. necessary labor upon the court, or waste its time by means of verbosity, redundancy, surplusage, or irrelevancy, whether in argument, bills of exceptions, motions for new trial, briefs of evidence, or other documents. II. BILLS OF EXCEPTIONS AND RECORDS. § 6270. RULE 6. Bills of exceptions.--Bills of exceptions must be plainly written or printed, and must distinctly specify the points on which error is assigned. Where the error alleged is in the granting or denying of a new trial, one assignment of error is sufficient to reach all the grounds of the motion on which the grant or refusal was based. Counsel, when signing bills of exceptions, or acknowledging service thereof, will add to their signatures their post-office addresses. 86271. RULE 7. Objections to bill of exceptions or transcript of record, how and when made.-Objections to the bill of exceptions or to the transcript of the record must be made in writing and presented to the court when, or before, the case is called for argument. They will be disposed of at once, if practicable, and if not, will be reserved for further consideration. Any suggestion of a diminution of the record will be controlled by this rule. $ 6272. RULE 8. Duty of clerks below. The clerk with whom a bill of exceptions is duly filed, shall, after certifying it under the seal of the court to be the true original bill of exceptions, transmit the same, within the time prescribed by statute, to the clerk of this court, together with a certified transcript of such parts of the record as the judge's certificate to the bill of exceptions may require him to transmit. Neither a party nor his counsel shall be intrusted by any clerk with these documents for transmission, but the exclusive medium of carriage shall be by mail or express, charges prepaid, unless delivery is made by the clerk, or his deputy, in person. If for any cause a clerk delays transmission beyond the statutory limit, he shall certify to this court on the transcript the true cause of the delay, or be considered as in contempt. $6273. RULE 9. Illegible or confused transcript of record, how treated. As against the clerks of the superior and city courts, and all plaintiffs in error, an illegible or confused transcript of the record will be treated as no transcript. $6274. RULE 10. Transcript, how written.—Every transcript shall be plainly and legibly written or printed on white paper, so as to be read without more than ordinary strain or effort. If written with pen or typewriter, the same must be done on only one side of each sheet. $6275. RULE 11. Tarious parts of transcript, how arranged.The various parts of the transcript shall be arranged in the order of time-that is, the first doenment filed shall be foremost in the transeript, and so on; matters ecpied from the minutes, such as verdicts, orders, judgments, etc., being also placed in due order according to dates Rules of the Supreme Court. § 6276. RULE 12. Where record confused or illegible, and no mandamus applied for, what direction given.—If a mandamus to the clerk in default be not applied for, and the record should be found confused or illegible, the court will cause such order, direction, or judgment to be entered as, in its legal discretion, should be awarded. Clerks who have not in the first instance complied with the requirements of Rules 10 and 11, may do so voluntarily by sending up a second transcript in conformity thereto, in which event resort to mandamus shall not be necessary. III. BRIEFS. $6277. RULE 13. Briefs.-Briefs must be plainly written or printed, with ample spacing between the lines, and be confined to a statement of the points insisted upon, and a citation of authorities. If counsel desire to furnish a written summary or narrative of the facts, or to make a written argument, this must be done in a separate document, and not by expanding or overloading the brief. Besides furnishing to the court three copies of his brief on or before beginning his argument, the counsel for each party must exchange briefs with his opponent at least twenty-four hours before the argument opens. This may be done by delivering a copy to the opponent directly, or by placing it for him, through the mail or otherwise, with the clerk of this court. Any failure to comply with this rule will subject the delinquent counsel to be dealt with as for contempt. IV. COSTS. § 6278. RULE 14. Attorneys, etc., bound.-All attorneys representing the plaintiff in error, as well those heard orally or by briefs in this court as those signing the bill of exceptions, are jointly and severally bound for costs, save where the pauper affidavit is filed in the clerk's office of the court below, and a certified copy thereof is transmitted to this court with and as a part of the transcript of the record, or, if no transcript is required, with the bill of exceptions. This oath, to be effectual, must assert that the plaintiff in error is, because of his poverty, unable to pay the costs, and must not add conjunctively that he is unable to do anything else. § 6279. RULE 15. Costs, when payable.-No case in which cost is due will be heard (except by special order of the court) until the cost is paid; and if not paid when the case is called, the clerk shall so inform the court, whereupon the case will be dismissed. The clerk shall, within ten days after the disposition of any case, issue execution against the plaintiff in error and his counsel for any unpaid costs with which they are chargeable, in form as follows: 6-Ga Code |