Certification required for immediate review of nonfinal orders, decisions, or judgments; exception; motion for new trial

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, in any appeal under this chapter where the order, decision, or judgment is not final, it shall be necessary that the trial judge certify within ten days of entry thereof that the order, decision, or judgment is of such importance to the case that an immediate review should be had. (b) A certificate of immediate review shall not be required from an: (1) Order, decision, or judgment suppressing or excluding evidence as set forth in paragraph (4) or (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 5-7-1; or (2) Order, decision, or judgment described in paragraph (1) or (7) of subsection (a) of Code Section 5-7-1. (c) For purposes of this Code section, the granting of a motion for new trial or an extraordinary motion for new trial shall be considered a final order. (Ga. L. 1973, p. 297, § 2; Ga. L. 2011, p. 612, § 1/HB 390; Ga. L. 2012, p. 899, § 1-2/HB 1176; Ga. L. 2013, p. 222, § 2/HB 349.) The 2011 amendment, effective May 12, 2011, designated the existing provisions as subsection (a); substituted ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section’’ for ‘‘Other than from an order, decision, or judgment sustaining a motion to suppress evidence illegally seized’’ at the beginning of subsection (a); and added subsections (b) and (c). The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, inserted ‘‘(1) or’’ in paragraph (b)(2). See the editor’s note for applicability. The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, substituted the present provisions of paragraph (b)(1) for the former provisions, which read: ‘‘Order, decision, or judgment suppressing or excluding illegally seized evidence; or’’. See editor’s note for applicability.