Meyer v. Hartman
Meyer v. Hartman
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This was an action upon a judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant in 1876, in the circuit court of Randolph County, Illinois. The answer admits the rendition of the judgment, but denies that the defendant appeared in his own proper person or by attorney. On the contrary, it alleges that the suit was begun in that, court in 1874; that such proceedings were had, that at a. trial in 1874, at which the defendant appeared, a judgment was rendered in his favor; that afterwards the plaintiff appealed to the supreme court of Illinois, and that, in 1876, the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded. The answer then states that it is provided by section 84, of chapter 110, of the Revised Statutes of Illinois of 1874, that when a cause or proceeding is remanded by the supreme court, upon the transcript of the order of the supreme court remanding the same being filed in the court from which, the cause or proceeding was remanded, and not less than ten days’ notice thereof being given to the adverse party or his attorney, the cause or proceeding shall be reinstated
On motion of the plaintiff the circuit court rendered a judgment in his favor and against the defendant, notwithstanding the answer. And the propriety of this ruling is what we have to consider.
The following propositions of law must be regarded as settled in this State: that a judgmeut rendered without notice is void (Anderson v. Brown, 9 Mo. 646; Roach v. Burnes, 33 Mo. 319); that advantage may be taken of such a judgment in a collateral proceeding (Abbott v. Sheppard, 44 Mo. 273; Higgins v. Peltzer, 49 Mo.152); that the fact that the judgment was rendered without notice, or upon an appearance of an attorney which was not authorised, may be shown to impeach a foreign as well as a domestic judgment (Marx v. Fore, 51 Mo. 69), and that this can be done, even though the jurisdiction of the court over
So far as we can ascertain, the Illinois statute which is set out in the answer, is a recent one. It does not appear to have been construed by the supreme court of that state. Prior to its passage it had been held in that state, that when a cause is remanded from the supreme to the circuit court, it may be redocketed in the circuit court and there proceeded with, without giving any notice to the opposite party. Murray v. Whittaker, 17 Ill. 230; Renugh v. McConnell, 36 Ill. 375. The statute was probably passed to remedy the evils which were fouud to flow from this rule. But whether it is to be so construed as to mean that the giving or publishing of notice, according to its terms, before the reinstating, in the circuit court, of a cause which has been remanded from the supreme court, is a step necessary to reinvest the circuit court with jurisdiction to proceed, so that, if the step is not taken, the subsequent proceedings will be void, or whether it is such a step, that the failure to take it will be merely an error or irregularity, which can only be taken advantage of in a direct proceeding to vacate the judgment, is a very important and difficult question. In. our former opinion we did not feel called upon to decide this question, as, in the view we then entertained, it was not clearly raised in the pleadings. After amotion for a rehearing and a further consideration, we came to the conclusion that we were mistaken in our construction of the pleadings, and that it was our duty to decide the question on its merits.
Counsel have not cited in their brief, nor, in the limited time at our disposal, have we been able to find, any decision upon a question strictly analogous to this. The case of Cone v. Hooper (18 Minn. 531), which is cited and relied on by respondent, is not in point. That case was, like this, a suit on a foreign judgment, and the contention was that the judgment was void for want of notice of an appeal which had been taken from a prior judgment in the same
It has been held in other courts, generally, we believe, on motions to dismiss appeals, that where there is a statute which requires service of a written notice of the taking of an appeal, if no such notice has been served, or if it has not been properly served, the appellate court acquires no jurisdiction, unless there be a voluntary appearance for the general purposes of the appeal, and that, without such an appearance, the appeal may be dismissed on motion. See Draper v. Taylor, 47 Iowa, 407.
By the New York code of civil procedure, writs of error were abolished and .appeals substituted therefor in all cases, and provision was made for serving written notice of appeal on the adverse party. The service of this notice has been regarded as a jurisdictional matter, which the party has the right to take advantage of at any time, provided be has not appeared and answered or proceeded in such a manner as to give the court jurisdiction over his person. Tripp v. DeBow, 5 How. Pr. 114.
The terms of the Illinois statute, as stated in the petition in this case, clearly import, that when the cause is remoyed from the circuit to the supreme court by appeal or writ of error, the jurisdiction of the circuit court therein is determined, and does not again attach until the cause shall have been remanded by the supreme court and “reinstated ” in the circuit court after the P'ivino' of the notice therein specified. But for the existence
We hold, then, that upon the state of facts made by the defendant’s answer, the judgment of the circuit court of Randolph County, Illinois, upon which this actionis brought, was void, and that the court below erred in rendering judgment for the plaintiff upon the pleadings. The judgment is accordingly reversed, and the cause remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.