This case has been cited 4 times or more.
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2010-09-08 |
PEREZ, J. |
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| While the dismissal of an appeal on purely technical grounds is concededly frowned upon,[39] it bears emphasizing that the procedural requirements of the rules on appeal are not harmless and trivial technicalities that litigants can just discard and disregard at will.[40] Neither being a natural right nor a part of due process, the rule is settled that the right to appeal is merely a statutory privilege which may be exercised only in the manner and in accordance with the provisions of the law.[41] The perfection of an appeal in the manner and within the period prescribed by law is, in fact, not only mandatory but jurisdictional.[42] Considering that they are requirements which cannot be trifled with as mere technicality to suit the interest of a party,[43] failure to perfect an appeal in the prescribed manner has the effect of rendering the judgment final and executory.[44] | |||||
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2010-03-26 |
DEL CASTILLO, J. |
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| To repeat, since the case has not been made out for multiple appeals, a record on appeal is unnecessary to perfect the appeal. The only requirement to perfect the appeal in the present case is the filing of a notice of appeal[14] in due time. This the respondents did. Concededly, the respondents did not strictly follow Rule 13, Sec. 11[15] on priorities on modes of service. However, since rules of procedure are mere tools designed to facilitate the attainment of justice, their strict and rigid application which would result in technicalities that tend to frustrate rather than promote substantial justice must be avoided.[16] The relaxation of the rules on service is all the more proper in the present case, where petitioner had already received his copy of the notice of appeal by registered mail, since the Court has previously ruled that a litigant's failure to furnish his opponent with a copy of his notice of appeal is not a sufficient cause for dismissing it and that he could simply have been ordered to furnish appellee with a copy of his appeal.[17] | |||||
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2005-09-02 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| The Rules of Civil Procedure should be applied with reason and liberality[14] to promote its objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding. Rules of procedure are used to help secure and not override substantial justice. Thus, the dismissal of an appeal on a purely technical ground is frowned upon especially if it will result in unfairness.[15] No such result happened here. | |||||
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2004-10-22 |
YNARES-SATIAGO, J. |
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| We are mindful of our rulings in the cases cited by petitioners where we held that the interests of substantial justice and equity prevailed over the constraints of technicalities. A careful reading of the cases cited by petitioners show that exceptional circumstances were obtaining in those cases. In the case of Ace Navigation Co., Inc. v. Court of Appeals,[23] we found merit in the case of the appealing party considering the disparity between the $450.00 unpaid vacation leave pay awarded by the labor arbiter and the $36,000.00 award granted by the NLRC. We ruled that the appeal may be considered even if the requirement regarding proof of service was not followed since the subsequent attaching of the affidavit of service to the motion for reconsideration was substantial compliance of the requirement of the rules. Likewise, in Nerves v. Civil Service Commission,[24] we allowed the petition notwithstanding that it was made through a wrong mode of appeal because the petition substantially complied with the Rules. More importantly, the appeal on its face appears to be impressed with merit. In Dela Rosa v. Court of Appeals,[25] we stated that as a rule, periods prescribed to do certain acts must be followed unless, under exceptional circumstances, a delay in the filing of an appeal may be excused on grounds of substantial justice. We took exception in the delay in that case because "strong considerations of substantial significance [were] manifest, as attested to by the appellate court's findings". | |||||