If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.
§ 9-17-13.Severability
Chapter 17. Georgia Uniform Mediation Act · Last amended 2021 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-17-13 provides that if a court holds any part of this chapter, or its application to a person or circumstance, invalid, the rest of the chapter stays in force wherever it can still operate without the invalid part.
Full Text of § 9-17-13
Plain-English Summary
Legislatures write severability clauses as insurance against an all-or-nothing outcome in litigation. This section is Chapter 17’s version: if a court strikes down some provision of the mediation privilege, or rules that a provision cannot be applied to a particular person or situation, that ruling does not pull the rest of the chapter down with it.
The surviving provisions keep operating wherever they can function without the piece that fell. A successful challenge to one exception in Code Section 9-17-5, for instance, would not by itself threaten the core privilege in Code Section 9-17-3 or the waiver rules in Code Section 9-17-4 — each provision stands or falls on its own footing.
Clauses like this one carry out the legislature’s stated preference for salvaging as much of a statute as possible rather than losing the whole scheme over a defect in one piece of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a court finds one provision of this chapter invalid?
The rest of the chapter remains in force wherever it can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
Does an invalid application of this chapter to one person affect its application to others?
No. The severability clause protects other applications that do not depend on the one held invalid.
Why do statutes include severability clauses?
To prevent one flawed or successfully challenged provision, or one invalid application of a provision, from collapsing the entire law.
If Code Section 9-17-5’s felony exception were struck down, would the core privilege in Code Section 9-17-3 survive?
Under this section’s severability rule, yes, provided Code Section 9-17-3 can still be given effect without the invalidated provision.
Does this section itself create any new mediation rights or privileges?
No. It is a rule of construction that protects the rest of the chapter from a defect in one part, not a source of any independent right.
Amendment History
Code 1981, § 9-17-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2021, p. 646, § 2/SB 234.
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
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