If a party establishes that an appeal from a foreign-country judgment is pending or will be taken, the court may stay the proceedings with regard to the foreign-country judgment until the time for appeal expires or the appellant has had sufficient time to prosecute the appeal and has failed to do so.
§ 9-12-117.Stay pending appeal
Chapter 12. Verdict and Judgment · Article 5. Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act · Last amended 2015 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-12-117 gives a Georgia court discretion to stay proceedings on a foreign-country judgment once a party shows that an appeal of that judgment is pending or will be taken, until the appeal window closes or the appellant has had sufficient time to pursue the appeal and failed to do so.
Full Text of § 9-12-117
Plain-English Summary
A foreign-country judgment can be in the process of being appealed abroad at the same time a Georgia court is being asked to recognize it. This section gives the Georgia court a tool for that overlap: if a party establishes that an appeal from the foreign-country judgment is pending, or will be taken, the court may stay the proceedings with regard to that judgment.
The stay is discretionary, not automatic — the statute uses "may," leaving the decision to the court once the appeal is established. The stay does not last indefinitely, either. It runs until one of two things happens: the time allowed for the appeal expires, or the appellant has had sufficient time to prosecute the appeal and has failed to do so.
This tool connects to the finality requirement found earlier in the article, which asks whether the foreign-country judgment is final, conclusive, and enforceable where rendered. A pending appeal can raise real questions about that finality, and rather than forcing the Georgia court to resolve those questions itself, this section lets it wait for the foreign appellate process to play out or lapse.
Frequently Asked Questions
What must a party show to seek a stay under this section?
That an appeal from the foreign-country judgment is pending, or that one will be taken.
Is the court required to grant a stay once an appeal is shown to be pending, or is it discretionary?
Discretionary. The statute provides that the court may stay the proceedings, not that it must.
What ends the stay if the appellant lets the appeal window lapse without prosecuting it?
The stay ends once the appellant has had sufficient time to prosecute the appeal and has failed to do so.
What ends the stay if the time for appeal merely expires?
The stay ends once the time allowed for taking the appeal has run out, even if no appeal was ever filed.
Why would a pending foreign appeal matter to a Georgia recognition proceeding?
Because this article generally requires a foreign-country judgment to be final, conclusive, and enforceable where rendered, and a pending appeal bears directly on whether that finality requirement is met.
Amendment History
Ga. L. 1975, p. 479, § 6; Code 1981, § 9-12-117, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2015, p. 996, § 2-1/SB 65.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: georgia stay foreign judgment pending appealforeign country judgment appeal stay georgiadiscretionary stay recognition proceeding georgiafinality requirement foreign judgment appeal georgia