Section 15-11-9. (Effective until January 1, 2014) Appointment of guardian ad litem

   (a) As used in this Code section, the term "court appointed special advocate" shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 15-11-9.1.

(b) The court at any stage of a proceeding under this article, on application of a party or on its own motion, shall appoint a guardian ad litem for a child who is a party to the proceeding if the child has no parent, guardian, or custodian appearing on the child's behalf or if the interests of the parent, guardian, or custodian appearing on the child's behalf conflict with the child's interests or in any other case in which the interests of the child require a guardian. A party to the proceeding or the employee or representative of a party to the proceeding shall not be appointed. In deprivation cases, a person appointed as a child's guardian ad litem must have received before the appointment training appropriate to the role that is administered or approved by the Office of the Child Advocate and may be an attorney or court appointed special advocate, or both. For attorneys, the preappointment training required pursuant to this Code section shall be satisfied within attorneys' existing continuing legal education obligations and shall not require attorneys to complete additional training hours in addition to those currently required by the State Bar of Georgia. The Office of the Child Advocate shall exempt from the training required by this Code section attorneys who have practiced as guardians ad litem in juvenile court deprivation proceedings for three or more years and, when such determination is made by the court, have demonstrated a proficiency in child representation.

Ga. L. 1951, p. 291, § 24; Ga. L. 1968, p. 1013, § 15; Code 1933, § 24A-3301, enacted by Ga. L. 1971, p. 709, § 1; Code 1981, § 15-11-55; Ga. L. 1986, p. 1017, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 652, § 1; Code 1981, § 15-11-9, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2000, p. 20, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 791, § 1/HB 212; Ga. L. 2007, p. 411, § 1/HB 270.