Territory v. Dondero

21 Haw. 19, 1912 Haw. LEXIS 22
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 13, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 21 Haw. 19 (Territory v. Dondero) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Territory v. Dondero, 21 Haw. 19, 1912 Haw. LEXIS 22 (haw 1912).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

DE BOLT, J.

" The defendant was convicted and adjudged to pay a fine of fifteen dollars and costs by the district magistrate of Honolulu for the violation of section 29 of ordinance No. 11 of the City and County of Honolulu, the specific act of the defendant upon which the conviction was based being the.operating of a motor car at a greater rate of speed than fifteen miles an hour within a restricted area in the City and County of Honolulu.

Upon conviction, the defendant appealed on points of law from the judgment of the district magistrate to this court. Three questions are presented by the appeal for our consideration, namely: (1) Is the ordinance void because passed in violation of section 2 of rule 20 of the rules of procedure of the board of supervisors of the City and County of Honolulu? (2) Is the ordinance void because in violation of section 15 of the charter of the City and County of Honolulu (Act 118, Laws of 1907), relating to the requirement that ordinances shall embrace but one subject which shall be expressed in the title? (3) Is the ordinance void because in conflict with sections 3115 and 3116 of the Revised Laws, as amended by Act 68 of the Laws of 1907, relating to the driving of vehicles? These questions will be considered in the order named.

[21]*211. Tlie- first question for consideration-involves the validity of the ordinance, because passed in violation of section 2 of rule 20 of the rules of procedure of the board of supervisors.

We wish, first, to observe with regard to this rule that it is not clear that it is judicially before us; however, we will assume for the purposes of this case, that it is properly before us.

Section 2 of the rule reads: “No ordinance shall be passed that is in conflict with the laws of the Territory and the rules and regulations of the Territorial board of health.”

Assuming that the ordinance was passed in violation of the rule and is in conflict with the laws of the Territory, the point which the defendant seeks to make has no force; because, whatever power the City and County of Honolulu may desire to exercise must be looked for in its charter and legislative amendments thereto. The charter provides that the board shall “establish rules for its proceedings,” but the rule in question does not purport to be a rule of procedure; it relates solely to the question of power, a subject which the board, as already suggested, is without authority either to enlarge or restrict, and which is governed entirely by legislative enactments. In Ex parte Mayor of Albany, 23 Wend. (N. Y.) 276, 279, the court said: “It is enough for us to see that the jurisdictional limits prescribed by the state law have not been overgone.' The objection is entirely novel, that a by-law passed by a corporation, prescribing to itself certain conditions on which alone an improvement shall be undertaken, or any other regulation made by it, shall so hamper and cripple its powers, as to disable it from performing those duties enjoined or authorized by the law of the state. The -latter is the charter, the constitution, the organic law of the city; and a by-law, which in terms restricts any of its provisions, is equally void, as if it sought to enlarge them.”

It is fundamental that a municipality can neither enlarge nor restrict its charter powers. Statutory or charter regulations, being imposed by law, may not be either repealed, sus[22]*22pended, or ignored by a municipal board. 28 Cyc. 333; Carr v. City of St. Louis, 9 Mo. 191; State v. Archibald, 5 N. D. 359, 378. It is clear that the rule in question is without force as against the validity of the ordinance. Assuming, however, the rule to be a mere rule of procedure, the record before us fails to show that it was invoked at any time during the consideration or passage of the ordinance, or that any objection was interposed to the passage of the ordinance on the ground that it was in violation of the rule. It is almost uniformly held that a municipal board may waive or. suspend its rules of procedure. Such waiver may be brought about either by formal action on the part of the board or by ignoring of the rules without objection. If an ordinance is passed without violation of statutory requirements, but in violation merely of a rule of procedure, it will not be held invalid for that reason. 28 Cyc. 333; City of Sedalia v. Scott, 78 S. W. 276; Holt v. City Council of Somerville, 127 Mass. 408, 411. Cushing, in his manual, “Law and.Procedure of Legislative Assemblies,” sections 784, 1478, et seq., lays down the provision that rules, when they are not prescribed by any authority superior to the body adopting them, as in the case at bar, may be suspended by unanimous consent. In section 794, the author says: “But, though it is essential to regularity of proceeding, that a legislative assembly should possess rules for its government, and that every member should have the right to' insist upon their observance, yet a member may waive his right, and the assembly itself, on a proper occasion, may dispense with its own rules. Hence it is an established practice, in all our legislative assemblies, to do any matter, or to take any course of proceeding, which is contrary to- the rules, provided it is done by general consent; that is, no member interposing any objection.” The cases cited by the defendant on this question do not support his contention: In Erie R. R. Co. v. Patterson, 76 Atl. 1065, the proceedings before the municipal council were for the purpose of opening a street which the court held imposed an [23]*23additional burden on the land adjacent and were judicial in character and were suck that interested parties were entitled to a hearing, and such a hearing as would come within the definition of due process of law. The court said that the method adopted was well calculated to lull the interested parties into security and deprive them of the opportunity even to ask for a hearing. There was something deeper involved in that ease than the mere question of waiver of rules. The particular rules prescribed were part of that “due process of law” necessary under the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States before an individual could be deprived of property or property rights. This “due process” as established, the interested parties had a right to rely on, and of course it could not be changed or ignored except in a formal manner and upon due notice to the interested parties. The syllabus of the opinion of the court in that case is as follows: “Where the rules of a public body require action at two regular meetings, and fixed the days for regular meetings, action had on a day not so fixed is nugatory, where the proceedings are judicial in character, although all the members of the Board have previously agreed to meet on the latter day. Such meeting is not a Tegular meeting.’ ” In Hicks v. Long Branch Commission, 69 N. J. L. 300, while it is true the court held, that a rule of the long Branch Commission, that “on every vote relating to any special appropriation the yeas and nays shall be taken and recorded,” is as binding on the commission as any statute, but an examination of the case will show that a compliance with this rule was called for when the resolution was put before the board, and there being objection interposed at the proper time there was of course no waiver. In State v. Hoyt, 2 Ore. 247, a councilman voted for himself for the office of marshal in violation of a rule prohibiting any interested party from voting for himself.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 Haw. 19, 1912 Haw. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/territory-v-dondero-haw-1912.