Prestridge v. Officers of Court
Prestridge v. Officers of Court
Opinion of the Court
Section 2389 of the Code of 1852, is in the following words : “ When a plaintiff brings a suit, which he suffers to abate by the death of the defendant or other cause ; or where the suit abates by the death of the plaintiff, and his representatives fail to revive the same, judgment for costs may be rendered against such representatives in the name of the officers of the court, and are paid as other claims against such estate.” The first clause of this section is incomplete, and cannot be supplemented by anything which follows. As it is, it fails to prescribe that judgment might be rendered in favor of the officers of
The “officers of court” can have no capacity to sue or be sued, except as authorized by statute. They have no corporate capacity. There is therefore no party appellee in this case. The appeal must be dismissed because an appeal is the appropriate remedy, only when there are parties on both sides. The appellant’s redress is by mandamus. — Patterson v. Officers of Court, supra; Ex parte Swan, 23 Ala. 192; Moore & Cocke v. Bell, 13 Ala. 459 ; Wolford v. Alexander, 12 Ala. 280.
The Eevised Code, § 2794, (2389,) remedies the'defect of the Code of 1852. It may have been the province of the codifyer to supply the defect, but it is not that of a court, whose authority is restricted to the duty of construction. The proceedings in this case were had before the Eevised Code became the law of the State.
Appeal dismissed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.