Alava v. People
Alava v. People
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The appellant does not deny that the consent of The People of Porto Eico is necessary in order that it may be sued, and, besides, it has been so decided by the .Supreme Court of the United States in the case of The People of Porto Rico v. Rosaly, 227 U. S., 271, but contends that such consent has been given for the present action by section 32 of Act No. 81 to reorganize the Sanitation Service, approved March 14, 1912. The pertinent part of said section is as follows:
“Section 32. — That every person whose property may have been unjustly or illegally destroyed or injured by the enforcement of any order, regulation, ordinance, or by any action taken by the Service of Sanitation, or by its employees or agents exempt from personal liability, may maintain the appropriate action against the Government of Porto Rico for the recovery of proper damages; but in such cases * *
There is no doubt that that provision embodies the consent of The People of Porto Eico to be sued in the cases stated therein, provided that certain requisites be complied with prior to bringing the action. But a question arises in this case because the plaintiff is not the owner of the property whose illegal and unjust destruction, according to the complaint, was ordered and carried out by the Service of Sanitation, but another third person who alleges that he has been damaged by the order given and executed against the owners of the house which is occupied in part by the appellant as lessee.
Section 32 under discussion is clear. In accordance therewith The People of Porto Eico consents to be sued for damages by persons whose property has been unjustly or illegally
The foregoing principle is exceedingly clear to us and requires no construction, but if it were doubtful we should reach the same conclusion, because as it is an exception to the general rule that The People of Porto Eico cannot be sued without its consent, it must be construed strictly, for its provisions impair the Sovereignty and tend to limit its power. 24 Tex. Rep., 504; Sutherland on Statutory Construction, pp. 286, 494; Raymond v. United States, 28 Am. St. Rep., 382.
Moreover, section 31 of the same act, of which section 32 is a continuation, corroborates what we have stated. By section 31 the Service of Sanitation is empowered to remove or abate a public nuisance when the owner, agent, or tenant of the property where the same exists has failed to do so; and by section 32 an action for damages is allowed when the said order is unjust or illegal. Considering the two sections together, we must reach the conclusion that by the said act The
The judgment appealed from should be affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.