Successors of Alejo Llul & Co., S. en C. v. District Court of Mayagüez
Successors of Alejo Llul & Co., S. en C. v. District Court of Mayagüez
Opinion of the Court
delivered tbe opinion of tbe court.
Plaintiff brought an action to recover not more than one hundred dollars in tbe Municipal Court of Mayagüez. Affixed to tbe complaint was a. revenue stamp of tbe value of ■one dollar as required by section 3 of “An Act establishing special proceedings in tbe municipal courts of Porto Rico, and for other purposes,” approved April 29, 1921. (Session Laws of that year, p. 112.) Tbe secretary acting under authority of section three, canceled the stamp, and, it appearing to tbe municipal judge that tbe case came within tbe provisions of tbe Law of 1921, be ordered tbe issuance of a summons as provided by section one thereof. This order was ■dated January 12, 1934, and fixed January 15 as tbe day on which defendant was to appear and answer. The summons
The argument both in the municipal court and in the district court was that the simplified procedure prescribed by the Law of 1921 could not be adopted and followed in the absence of any indication in the complaint of a desire on the part of plaintiff to pursue this course. The district judge concurred in this view and, as the Code of Civil Procedure requires the cancellation of revenue stamps to the amount of three dollars on the filing of the complaint in an ordinary action, dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction.
The obvious purpose of the Law of 1921 was to eliminate technical details of pleading and practice and to provide a simple, speedy, and effective method of procedure in cases involving not more than one hundred dollars. The fact that the amount sought to be recovered herein was not more than one hundred dollars, coupled with the fact that plaintiff had affixed to its complaint a stamp of one dollar instead of stamps of three dollars was enough to justify the secretary and the judge of the municipal court in assuming that plaintiff had elected and intended to pursue the remedy and course of pro
The municipal judge did not err in denying the motion. The district judge should likewise have denied the same and proceeded to the trial de novo in accordance with the provisions of the Law of 1921.
The ruling in question must be reversed and the case will be remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.