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§ 62a. Same: absence of Judge of District Court. In the absence of the Judge of the District Court of Guam or his inability to serve, the Island Court through its Chief Judge shall have original jurisdiction in pleas of guilty, defaults and matters preliminary to trial in all causes where original jurisdiction is given to the District Court, except causes arising under the laws of the United States. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 62.1. Court claims of the government of Guam. (Repealed). [Added by P.L. 8-55, effective August 9, 1965; repealed by P.L. 9-175, effective March 14, 1968, except that any proceedings under the provisions of this section commenced prior to March 14, 1968, may be pursued to find determination if still pending.]

§ 63. Appellate jurisdiction. The District Court of Guam shall have jurisdiction of appeals from the judgments, orders and decrees of the Island Court in criminal causes as provided in the Penal Code, Part II, Title VIII, and in civil causes and proceedings as provided in the Code of Civil Procedure, Part II, Title VIII, Chapter VI, Article II, and Title XII, Chapters I and II, and Part III, Title I, Chapter V, and Title II, Chapter IV, and Title VII, Chapter XII, and the Probate Code, Division III, Chapter XXI, Article IV, and Division IV, Chapter XVI. [Enacted 1953.] [See Eiban v. Gov. of Guam (1953) 115 F. Supp. 519.]

§ 64. Powers on appeal. Upon appeal the District Court may affirm, modify, vacate, set aside or reverse the judgment, order, or decree appealed from, and may remand the cause and direct the entry of such appropriate judgment, order, or decree as may be just under the circumstances, but the District Court may not take new or additional evidence, consider the issues of fact de novo, or set aside findings of fact made by the Island Court unless they are clearly erroneous, and due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial judge or judges to judge of the credibility of the witnesses. [Enacted 1953.] [See Taro v. Gov. of Guam (1953) 115 F.Supp. 523.]

§ 65. Appellate division. Appeals from the Island Court shall be heard and determined by an appellate division of the District Court, consisting of three (3) judges, of whom two (2) shall constitute a quorum. The appellate division, when requested by the moving party, shall also hear and determine

motions for rehearing or a new trial made after final decision of the District Court in all cases tried originally in that court in which such final decision is not appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The judge appointed for the court by the President shall be the presiding judge of the appellate division and shall preside therein unless disqualified or otherwise unable to act. The other judges who are to sit in the appellate divison at any session shall be designated by the presiding judge from among the judges assigned to the court from time to time by the Chief Justice of the United States pursuant to § 24(a) of the Organic Act of Guam [48 USCA 1424b]. The concurrence of two judges of the appellate division shall be necessary to any decision by the District Court on the merits of an appeal, but the presiding judge alone may make any appropriate orders with respect to an appeal prior to the hearing and determination thereof on the merits and may dismiss an appeal for want of jurisdiction, or failure to take or prosecute it in accordance with the applicable law or rules of procedure. [Enacted 1953; U.S. Code reference added by Editor.]

§ 66. Time for taking appeals. The time within which an appeal must be taken and the manner of taking an appeal may be prescribed by rules adopted by the Judicial Council. To the extent not so prescribed the time and manner of taking an appeal shall be governed by the Penal Code or the Code of Civil Procedure, as the case may be. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 67. Appellate procedure. The procedure on appeal may be prescribed by rules adopted by the Judicial Council. To the extent not so prescribed it shall be governed by the Penal Code or the Code of Civil Procedure, as the case may be, and by the rules of the District Court. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 68. Rules and Writs. The District Court of Guam may from time to time prescribe rules, consistent with law and with the rules adopted by the Supreme Court and by the Judicial Council, for the conduct of its business, and may issue writs of habeas corpus, certiorari or review, mandamus or mandate, prohibition and all other writs necessary or appropriate in aid of its original or appellate jurisdiction and agreeable to the usages and principles of law. [Enacted 1953.]

§ 69. Pending appeals. All records, books, papers, causes, appeals and proceedings lodged, deposited or pending in the

former Court of Appeals are transferred to the District Court of Guam which shall have the same jurisdiction over them as if they had been in the first instance lodged, deposited, filed or commenced therein. [Enacted 1953.]

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§ 89. Transfer of records and pending proceedings of Justice Court.

§ 81. Appointment, tenure and salary of judges. The Island Court shall consist of a Chief Judge and such additional judges as may be necessary for the proper dispatch of the business of the court, who shall be appointed by the Governor, in the manner and for the term set out in Chapter III(a) of this Title, unless sooner removed for cause. The salary of the Chief Judge and of the other judges shall be fixed by law and shall not be diminished during their terms of office. [Enacted 1953; amended by P.L. 7-77, effective January 31, 1964; further amended by P.L. 9-256, effective January 8, 1969.] [EDITOR'S NOTE: P.L. 9-256 also contained the following:

"In carrying out the provisions of § 81 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended by the preceding section of the Act, the Governor may, with the advice and consent of the Legislature, appoint any judge of the Island Court under the provisions of this Act, notwithstanding that the term to which said judge was originally appointed under prior law shall not have expired. In addition, the Governor may, with the advice and consent of the Legislature, appoint as a judge of the Island Court any former member of the Legislature except that, pursuant to the provisions of § 15 of the Organic Act of Guam, any such member so appointed shall receive a salary as Island Court Judge at the rate set out under prior law in lieu of the increase authorized by this Act until one year shall follow the expiration of such appointee's term in the Legislature."] [EDITOR'S NOTE: See 48 USCA 1421d.]

§ 82. Original jurisdiction. The Island Court shall have original jurisdiction exclusive of the District Court:

1. In all criminal cases, not amounting to felonies, arising under the laws of the Territory of Guam; provided, that in a prosecution for a felony, the District Court of Guam shall have jurisdiction over any offense necessarily included in such felony, or an attempt to commit such felony, or of an offense necessarily included in such an attempt if the attempt is an offense. [This subsection was repealed and added by P.L. 8-103, effective February 23, 1966.] [Gov. of Guam v. Kaanehe (1956) 137 F.Supp. 189.]

2. In all actions and proceedings under the laws of Guam for the annulment or dissolution of marriage, for family support, for the adoption or custody of children, for declarations of parental relation, and for change of name;

3. In all proceedings under the laws of Guam for the probate of wills, the appointment of executors, administrators, guardians and trustees, and the administration, settlement, and distribution of estates of decedents, minors and missing persons;

4. In all cases at law under the laws of Guam in which the demand, exclusive of interest and costs, or the value of the property in controversy, does not amount to more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00); [See Jones and Guerrero Co. v. Paulino (1967) 381 F.2d 811.]

5. In actions for dissolution of partnership, where the total assets of the partnership do not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00);

6. In actions of interpleader where the amount of money, or the value of the property involved does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00);

7. To cancel or rescind a contract, when such relief is sought in connection with an action to recover money, not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or property of a value not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), paid or delivered under or in consideration of such contract; to revise a contract where such relief is sought in an action upon such contract of which the court otherwise has jurisdiction;

8. In all proceedings in forcible entry or unlawful detainer, where the rental value is not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) per month, and where the whole amount of damages claimed is not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00);

9. In all actions to enforce and foreclose liens on personal

property, where the amount of such lien is not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00);

10. To issue temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, to take accounts, and to appoint receivers, where necessary to preserve the property or rights of any party to an action of which the court has jurisdiction; to appoint a receiver in aid of execution as provided in § 564, Subdivision 4, of the Code of Civil Procedure; to charge the interest of a debtor partner with payment of the unsatisfied amount of any judgment rendered by such court in the manner provided in § 2422 of the Civil Code and in such cases to appoint a receiver and to make any order or perform any act mentioned or authorized in said section; in proceedings under § 689 of the Code of Civil Procedure to determine title to personal property seized in an action pending in, or upon execution issued by, such court;

11. In all cases in equity, to try title to personal property when the amount involved is not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), and to hear and determine all equitable defenses in any case properly pending in the court; and

12. In all other cases in which jurisdiction is expressly conferred upon the Island Court by law.

If in a civil action brought in the Island Court a counterclaim is filed which is in excess of the jurisdiction of the Island Court, the entire action shall be transferred by the Island Court to the District Court which shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine both the complaint and counterclaim. If an action or proceeding within the jurisdiction of the District Court is now pending or hereafter brought in the Island Court it shall on motion of any party be transferred by the Island Court to the District Court. [Enacted 1953; amended by P.L. 9-256, effective January 8, 1969.] [Note: P.L. 9-256 contained the following pertinent language:

"All actions and proceedings arising under the laws of Guam pending in the District Court of Guam upon the effective date of this Act, shall be prosecuted to final determination by the District Court as though this Act had not been passed."] [See Corn v. Guam Coral (1963) 318 F.2d 622 re discussion of Guam Court System.]

§ 83. Appellate jurisdiction and procedure. The Island Court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all cases tried and determined in the Police Court in which the punishment imposed is a fine of more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), or imprisonment, or both. Such an appeal shall be taken within

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