Compañía Azucarera del Toa v. Galán
Compañía Azucarera del Toa v. Galán
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Our previous action in this case was a dismissal because
Section 188 of the Code of Civil Procedure says that a judgment is a final determination of the rights of the parties in an action or proceeding. A defendant is only entitled to costs when he has a judgment as defined, determining his rights. His rights would be determined when the complaint was finally dismissed. The order fixing costs in this case was therefore premature.
Perhaps we should again dismiss the appeal because the court below was without jurisdiction to render the order, but as neither party is questioning our jurisdiction, as there was a recorded judgment under which the court below purported to act and as the proceedings in the court below would have to be the same, we shall reverse the order appealed from as being premature and send the case back for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.