Hull Dobbs Co. v. Superior Court
Hull Dobbs Co. v. Superior Court
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Availing themselves of the special proceeding provided by Act No. 10 of November 14, 1917 (Spec. Sess. Laws, p. 216, 32 L.P.R.A. §§ 3101 to 3113), Luis G. Marín and Pedro González filed a complaint in the District Court, San Juan Part, against the Hull Dobbs Company of Puerto Rico, to
I
Before we discuss the fundamental issue involved in the appeal as to the availability of a trial de novo in appeals from judgments rendered by the District Court in cases conducted before the Superior Court pursuant to the special law regarding claims for services rendered, we shall decide two preliminary questions raised by the Secretary of Labor as counsel for the plaintiffs workers.
1. The proper proceeding to bring to the consideration of this Court the final judgments entered by the Superior Court in litigations regarding claims for wages originating in the District Court is the writ of certiorari referred to
2. The Act does not fix a specific term for the filing of this petition for special certiorari.
In relation to the judgments rendered by the District Court in cases concerning claims for services rendered,, the special law regarding this matter provided since its-approval on November 14, 1917 for an appeal to the Superior Court.
In Fog v. District Court, 65 P.R.R. 150 (1945), when considering a way in which to compute the term of five days during which appeals shall be taken in a case of a claim for wages, it was held that the appeal provided by § 8 of Act No. 10 of 1917 was governed by the provisions of the Act of March 11, 1908 (Sess. Laws, p. 168), which regulated the appeals taken in ordinary civil suits from the former municipal courts to the district courts. See, also, Pabón v. District Court, 65 P.R.R. 842 (1946); Sosa v. District Court, 70 P.R.R. 59 (1949) ; Rodríguez v. Fonalledas, 71 P.R.R. 783 (1950). Cf. Vando v. Municipal Court, 65 P.R.R. 6 (1946) (ejectment). Likewise, in actions for wages, in order to determine whether an appeal to the Supreme Court from judgments rendered by the former district courts in claims originating in municipal court lies, § 295 of the Code
According tp the provisions of the Act of March 11, 1908, which regulated the appeals from judgments of municipal •courts to the district courts, once the action is set for hearing in the district court, it was held as a trial de novo. The Judiciary Act of 1952
It is true that in § 11 of the special law regarding claims for services rendered, reference is made to the fact that in the hearing on appeal “the trial shall be held de novo” and to the “introduction of the evidence,” but we cannot interpret these provisions isolatedly and apart from the rules of procedure which the legislator has provided in order to guarantee the litigants in a lawsuit a speedy and economic trial. We must reject the literal interpretation propounded by the petitioner since it only leads to unreasonable and undesirable
In Rivera v. Quiñones, 70 P.R.R. 297 (1949), we denied 2. motion for a trial de novo to be held before this Court in an appeal of an action for wages pursuant to the special proceeding, although the law provides that in said appeal the same procedure will be followed as the one established for
In the delicate process of the interpretation of the laws, the judicial power has imposed upon itself certain limitations as an outgrowth of the doctrine of the separation of powers. This attitude has been properly considered as “a rule of judicial honor.” Clínica Juliá v. Secretary of the Treasury, supra. The deep respect which we have for the legislative intent obliges us, in certain specific occasions, to supply the oversights which it may have committed. There is no doubt that in the case at bar it was the legislative intent to abolish the trial de novo in all proceedings, irrespective of the ordinary or special nature thereof.
Therefore, the respondent court did not err in refusing to grant the trial de novo requested.
The interveners, Marín and González, were the sales manager and the assistant manager, respectively, of petitioner’s company. The latter maintains that as the interveners are executives, they do not have the right to receive any compensation for discharge without just cause pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 50 of April 20,1949 (Sess. Laws, p. 126, 29 L.P.R.A. § 183). Petitioner’s contention is wrong.
Said provision grants an indemnity to “every employee, of a commercial establishment or industry or other lucrative business, whose services are contracted for without a definite term.” When extending its benefits to every employee of a lucrative business, the lawmaker did not make any distinction whatsoever between the different kinds of employees, and therefore, those who occupy executive positions are not excluded. A similar allegation as to the right of executives to avail themselves of the provisions of Act No. 10 of 1917 to prosecute their claims was rejected in Doyle v. Polypane Packaging Co., 80 P.R.R. 218, 222-224 (1958).
By virtue of the reasons set forth above, the writ issued shall be discharged.
Rule 5 of the Rules for Appeals from the District Court to the-. Superior Court, 4 L.P.R.A. App. Ill, R. 6.
Rule 7 of the ones cited in the footnote above.
In its appropriate part said section reads as follows: “That in the-hearing on appeal the trial shall be hel-d de novo. . . .”
See the report from the Committee of Civil Procedure of October 8, .I960, to the Second Judicial Conference, pp. 17 and 49.
Sections 8 to 11 of Act No. 10 of 1917, regarding this appeal and both included, have not undergone substantial changes since their original approval. The principal amendments consisted in extending from two to five days the term in which the appeal is to be taken, and in providing that said term be computed after notice of the judgment is served instead of after the date on which the judgment was entered, and in determining that to perfect the appeal the secretary shall transmit the original record of the case instead of a copy thereof. See Act No. 40 of April 1, 1935 (Sess. Laws, p. 238).
Section 19 of Act No. 11 of July 24, 1952 (Spec. Sess. Laws, p. 80) provides that the right of appeal from any final judgment of the District Court to the Superior Court is established; that the procedure on appeal shall be in accordance with the rules established by the Supreme Court; and that “the appeal shall be by way of review of the judgment or action of the- court from which the appeal is taken and shall not be by way of trial de novo.”
4 L.P.R.A. § 122 note. Although it is not a legislative report as such, we believe it is appropriate to consider it in order to determine the legislative intent since the Legislative Assembly considered it and adopted the bill drafted by said committee almost entirely. Cf. People v. Miranda, 79 P.R.R. 667 (1956); Petrovich v. Secretary of the Treasury, 79 P.R.R. 237 (1956); People v. Figueroa, 77 P.R.R. 175 (1954); Downs v. Porrata, Pros. Atty., 76 P.R.R. 572 (1954); People v. Superior Court, 75 P.R.R. 501 (1953).
It is significant that in the ease at bar, the petitioner, Hull Dobbs Co., availed itself of the procedure established in said rules, and that at' the time of perfecting its appeal before the Superior Court it made use of the summary of the ease prepared by the judge of the district court and it demanded and sent the original records of the case to the court. Thereafter it also complied with the rule providing for the filing of the brief.
We wish to explain that the foregoing -does not affect the trial de novo to review the acts of officers or administrative boards, in those cases where it is appropriate. Section 14(d) of Act No. 115 of June 26, 1958 (Sess. Laws, p. 281, 4 L.P.R.A. § 87); Medina v. Pons, 81 P.R.R. 1 (1959).
Cf. Rodríguez v. District Court, 65 P.R.R. 576 (1946); Sierra v. Long Construction Co., 76 P.R.R. 391, 394.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.