Territory v. Wills

26 Haw. 469, 1922 Haw. LEXIS 24
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedJune 21, 1922
DocketNo. 1350; No. 1338; No. 1362
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 26 Haw. 469 (Territory v. Wills) 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. Wills, 26 Haw. 469, 1922 Haw. LEXIS 24 (haw 1922).

Opinion

[470]*470OPINION OP THE COURT BY

PETERS, C. J.

Writs of error were issued in these cases by the. clerk of this court to review judgments of circuit courts of conviction of a crime. All involve similar questions of law and for convenience will be discussed and disposed of together.

Upon the cases being called for argument the court sua sponte called to the attention of counsel for plaintiffs in error the absence of an allowance of the respective writs as required by section 2526, R. L. 1915, and suggested that due thereto it was without jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the writs. Plaintiffs in error admitted that no request had been made of any justice of this court for the allowance of the writs and the same had not been allowed by a justice of this court and attempted to justify the absence of the allowance by the claim that alloAvance of writs of error in criminal cases was no longer necessary; that section 2526, R. L. 1915, had been repealed by implication by Act 44, S. L. 1919, and if not repealed, the writ in such case, though not expressly, had been impliedly, allowed by a justice of this court and this conrt should in its discretion (and [471]*471the plaintiffs in error each so moved) enter an order of allowance nunc pro tunc as of the dates of the issuance of the respective writs. On the other hand the Territory upon leave of court first thereto given, moved to dismiss the writs for failure to secure such alloAvance. To the motion of the Territory plaintiffs in error rejoined that this court has general appellate jurisdiction of writs of error in criminal cases and that the defect, if any, concerned merely the process by which this court acquires jurisdiction of defendants in error which the Territory could have, and had, waived and that the Territory was now estopped from objecting to the jurisdiction of the court over the parties defendants in error.

It seems clear that section 2526, R. L. 1915, was not repealed by implication, by Act 44, S. L. 1919, and that at the time of the issuance of the respective writs of error herein was in full force and effect. Prior to the passage of Act 44, S. L. 1919, sections 2518 to 2534, inclusive, of chapter 142, R. L. 1915, embodied the provisions of law pertaining to appeals by writ of error. By said Act 44, S. L. 1919, entitled, “An Act Relating to Writs of Error, and Amending Sections 2518, 2522, 2523, 2524, 2525, 2527, 2528, 2529, 2530, 2531, 2532 and 2533, and Repealing Section 2519, Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1915, Relative Thereto,” the legislature, with the exception of section 2519, which was repealed, amended each of the sections of the Revised Laws enumerated in the title, setting forth in the amendatory act under the original section number, each section as amended. The amendatory act did not cover the entire subject of writs of error. All reference was omitted to section 2526 and to sections 2520 and 2521. Section 2519 was expressly repealed.

To sustain the contention of the plaintiffs in error it must be held that the terms of section 2526, R. L. 1915, and Act 44, S. L. 1919, in respect to allowance of writs [472]*472of error in criminal cases, are so repugnant to, and in conflict with, each other that the statute 'last passed (Act 44, S. L. 1919), being the latest expression of the legislative will, governs and controls although it contains no repealing clause. Repeals by implication are not favored. “But the repeal of statutes by implication is not favored by the courts. The presumption is always against the intention to repeal where express terms are not used. To justify the presumption of an intention to repeal one statute by another, either the two statutes must be irreconcilable, or the intent to. effect a repeal must be otherwise clearly expressed. It follows that where the intention not to repeal is apparent or manifest from an act there is no room for repeal by implication, or the application of rules regarding implied repeal.” 36.Cyc. 1071, 1072, title “Statutes,” par. c. Nor is it sufficient that there be mere implication. The repeal must appear by necessary implication. “That it has not been expressly or by direct terms repealed is admitted; and the question resolves itself into the more narrow inquiry, whether it has been repealed by necessary implication. We say by necessary implication, for it is not sufficient to establish that subsequent laws cover some or even all of the cases provided for by it; for they may be merely affirmative, or cumulative, or auxiliary. But there must be a positive repugnancy between the provisions of the new laws, and those of the bid; ⅜ * *.” Wood v. United States, 16 Pet. (U. S.) 342, 362, 363.

Sections 2518 to 2534, as contained in R. L. 1915, respecting writs of error, did not refer alone to writs of error in criminal cases. They covered writs of error in civil cases as well. By section 2525 it was provided: “Writs of error in civil cases may be issued by the clerk of the supreme court or his deputies, as of right in term time or vacation, upon the application of any party to [473]*473the original cause or of any personal representative of a deceased party.” The scope of section 2518, E. L. 1915, was not increased nor enlarged by the amendatory act. The authority of the clerk to issue waits of error remains directory and not mandatory, except in so far as section 2525 as amended,, taken together with section 2518 as amended, renders the duty of the clerk mandatory in respect to civil cases where' the writ issues as a matter of right. That the application for a writ and the writ “may,” in the former case, and “shall,” in the latter, he in substantial terms prescribed by sections 2529 and 2530, respectively, as amended, has no controlling influence. Neither the inherent qualities of the writ nor its allowance by a justice of this court demand that such allowance be a part of the application for the wait or a paid of the writ itself. Such allowance might properly be indorsed on the wait or be the subject of an independent order. That section 2518 as amended is in general terms and may be said to include writs of error in criminal cases does not create a repugnancy operating to repeal section 2526, the particular statute in respect to allowance of writs of error in criminal cases. They do not conflict, but on the contrary do and can consistently coexist.

In the instant case the title of the amendatory act, the manner of the amendment, the subject-matter of the statutes amended and the absence of reference to section 2526 clearly indicate that the legislature did not intend to repeal section 2526, but on the contrary intended that the supervisory control of writs of error in criminal cases by a justice of this court should continue as formerly.

The rule of interpretation of general and particular statutes in respect to the same general subject-matter applies. “When two statutes cover, in whole or in part, the same subject-matter, and are not absolutely irreconcilable, no purpose of repeal being clearly showai, the [474]*474court, if possible, will giye effect to both. Where, however, a later act covers the whole subject of earlier acts and embraces new provisions, and plainly shows that it was intended, not only as a substitute for the earlier acts, but to cover the whole subject then considered by the legislature, and to prescribe the only rules in respect thereto, it operates as a repeal of all former statutes relating to such subject-matter, even if the former acts are not in all respects repugnant to the new act.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Haw. 469, 1922 Haw. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/territory-v-wills-haw-1922.