Certified Question Lucas v Iaccp Bank & Trust 2025 SDCR 40
Certified Question Lucas v Iaccp Bank & Trust [2025] SDCR 40
| Date of judgment | 26th December 2025 |
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| Ruling |
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| Applicable precedent |
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MAJORITY OPINION by Judge Ferris
(with Judge Hmquestionable and Judge Ppatpat agreeing)
Summary of the Case
[1] The Inferior Court poses 3 questions towards this court:
- [1.1] Can a civil trial be held in absentia?
- [1.2] Can a judge mandate the assignment of a Public Defender?
- [1.3] Can an order be issued for a party to respond within 24 hrs?
[2] The plaintiff cited Article 2 §3 Office of Public Defenders Act (OPD Act) stating that the law allows the office to have discretion on whether they shall appoint a Public Defender (PD) and argues that the absentia provisions in the Courtroom Procedures Act 2025 (CPA) are to be used only in criminal trials where the presence of a defense is necessary for a fair trial. Hence the appointment of a PD cannot be forced in spite of §3.1 Art. 23 of the CPA.
- [2.1] They also argue that mandating the appointment of a PD renders certain pieces of legislation meaningless which has been prohibited by precedent. Additionally, they cite In re Replacement of KingRed31 [2020] SDSC 21 [13] which states that if the text of the law results in an undesirable outcome or something that makes little sense then authorial intent should be taken into account.
[3] The defense cites the right to due process and argues that applying KingRed, as the plaintiff suggests, results in the worse situation of being unable to defend oneself.
Considerations
[4] Trials in Absentia in the CPA apply to all trials, and there is no part of the statute which restricts itself to criminal trials only. Hence, the court can declare a trial in absentia in civil matters.
[5] The defense credibly alleges that the mandated assignment of a PD pursuant to the CPA violates the discretion bestowed upon the OPD in the OPD Act. However, their following conclusion is misguided. When 2 statutes are in apparent contradiction you must interpret them to be in harmony with each other. This has been established in the doctrine of harmonious construction, which is recognized in SimDem law (see, for instance, In re Article 4 s5 of the Executive Act 2023 [2025] SDSC 9).
[6] Under this doctrine, the more specific law supersedes the more general law. Here the OPD Act establishes a general principle, that being discretion over providing representation in civil matters. The CPA then establishes a more specific principle which states that when the trial is in absentia, a PD must be assigned.
- [6.1] The application of KingRed is also incorrect here for a number of reasons. The cited precedent establishes that when an undesirable outcome is reached, a result of little logical sense or when something is uncertain or unclear authorial intent should be referred to. Ppatpat and brandmal, ex parte thesigmasquad (Appellant) v State of SimDemocracy (Respondent) [2025] SDSC 13 [16.1] sheds light on what an undesirable outcome is and this situation fails to satisfy that. Additionally, if a law appears to make little logical sense, or is uncertain or unclear, then the aforementioned doctrine should be applied before applying authorial intent.
[7] The plaintiff’s argument of this nullifying the text of Art. 21 §3 of the CPA is ultimately misguided since it is with reference to the trial stage and the case is currently in pre-trial.
[8] On [1.3] the court reaffirms Nighteye (Appellant) v LordDeadlyOwl (Respondent) [2020] SDSC 5 [13]. While the court order itself may be legal, it must allow for some leniency and leeway for both parties to accommodate for unforeseen and possibly uncommunicable real-life circumstances. However, it is important to note that the legislated time limit of 48 hours for legal procedures under the Courtroom Procedures Act is not able to be changed to 24 hours by Court Order, and consequently, it will not be possible to use a Court Order to order someone to respond within 24 hours for legal procedures.
Citations
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