68 Ga. 49 | Ga. | 1881
There was a divided court on the constitutionality of this act, even in civil cases — 39 Ga., 361 — but the majority upheld the validity of the act, and that decision has been repeatedly considered as law by this court subsequently. Nevertheless, by the constitution of 1877, ar_ tide 6, section 4, paragraph 9, appendix to Code, §626, express power is given to the general assembly to provide by law for the appointment of some person to act as judge where the judge of the superior courts is disqualified. That paragraph is in these words : “The general assem
Whatever may have been the law prior to the constitution of 1877, and the act of 1879, we are quite clear-that since that act went into effect, the act of i860, and the provision of the Code on the subject taken from that act were modified, if ever operating so widely, to the extent of confining the appointment of judges pro hac vice to civil cases.
Therefore, the plaintiff in error was illegally convicted before the tribunal which undertook to try him, notwithstanding his consent, and the cause must be remanded for a new trial.
Judgment reversed.