34 Phil. 631
[ G.R. No. 10010. August 01, 1916 ]
CHU JAN, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. LUCIO BERNAS, DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT.
D E C I S I O N
ARAULLO, J.:
The defendant denied each and all of the allegations of the complaint and moved to dismiss with the costs against the plaintiff. On September 11, 1913, the said Court of First Instance rendered judgment dismissing the appeal without special finding as to costs. The defendant excepted to this judgment as well as to an order dictated by the same court on November 8th of the same year, on the plaintiff’s motion, ordering the provincial treasurer of Albay and, if necessary, the municipal treasurer of Tabaco of the same province, to release the deposit of P160 and return it to its owner, the plaintiff Chinaman, Chu Jan. These proceedings have come before us on appeal by means of the proper bill of exceptions.
The grounds for the dismissal pronounced by the lower court in the judgment appealed from were that that court has always dismissed cases of this nature, that he is not familiar with the rules governing cockfights and the duties of referees thereof; that he does not know where to find the law on the subject and, finally, that he knows of no law whatever that governs the rights of the plaintiff and the defendant in questions concerning cockfights.
The ignorance of the court or his lack of knowledge regarding the law applicable to a case submitted to him for decision, the fact that the court does not know the rules applicable to a certain matter that is the subject of an appeal which must be decided by him and his not knowing where to find the law relative to the case, are not reasons that can serve to excuse the court for terminating the proceedings by dismissing them without deciding the issues. Such an excuse is the less acceptable because, foreseeing that a case might arise to which no law would be exactly applicable, the Civil Code, in the second paragraph of article 6, provides that the customs of the place shall be observed, and, in the absence thereof, the general principles of law.
Therefore the judgment and the order appealed from, hereinbefore mentioned, are reversed and the record of the proceedings shall be remanded to the court from whence they came for due trial and judgment as provided by law. No special finding is made with regard to costs. So ordered.
Arellano, C. J., Torres, Johnson, and Trent, JJ., concur.
Moreland, J., did not take part.
Date created: May 29, 2014
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