Title 7, Judiciary and Civil Procedure

An affidavit, notice, or other paper without the title of the action or proceeding in which it is made, or with a defective title, is as valid and effectual for any purpose as if duly entitled, if it intelligibly refers to such action or proceeding. SOURCE: CCP § 1046.

In all cases brought under the provisions of any law providing for the establishment and quieting of title to real property in cases where the public records in the Department of Land Management have been, or shall hereafter be, lost or destroyed, in whole or in any material part…

Successive actions may be maintained upon the same contract or transaction whenever, after the former action, a new cause of action arises therefrom. SOURCE: CCP § 1047.

An action may be severed and actions may be consolidated, in the discretion of the court, whenever it can be done without prejudice to a substantial right. SOURCE: CCP § 1048.

An action is deemed to be pending from the time of its commencement until its final determination upon appeal, or until the time for appeal has passed, unless the judgment is sooner satisfied. SOURCE: CCP § 1049. NOTE: See Corn v. Guam Coral, 318 F.2d 622 (1963).

An action may be brought by one person against another for the purpose of determining an adverse claim, which the latter makes against the former for money or property upon an alleged obligation; and also against two or more persons, for the purpose of compelling one to satisfy a…

On the trial of an action in a court of record, if there be no shorthand reporter or the court in attendance, either party may require the clerk to take down the testimony in writing. SOURCE: CCP § 1051.

COL3242015 The clerk must keep among the records of the court a register of actions. He must enter therein the title of the action, with brief notes under it, from time to time, of all papers filed and proceedings had therein. SOURCE: CCP § 1052. CROSS-REFERENCES: See GRCP Rule 7…

When there are three referees, or three arbitrators, all must meet, but two of them may do any act which might be done by all.

When an act to be done, as provided in this Title, relates to the pleadings in the action, or the undertaking to be filed, or the justification of sureties, or the preparation of bills of exceptions, or amendments thereto, or to service of notices other than of appeal, the time a…

If an action is brought against any officer or person for an act, for the doing of which he had theretofore received any valid bond or covenant of indemnity, and he gives seasonable notice thereof in writing to the persons who executed such bond or covenant, and permits them to c…

In all cases where an undertaking or bond, with any number of sureties, is authorized or required by any provision of this Title, or of any law of Guam, any corporation incorporated under the laws of Guam or any state of COL3242015 the United States for the purpose of making, gua…

In any civil action or proceeding wherein the government of Guam is a party plaintiff or defendant, or any officer, in his official capacity or on behalf of the government of Guam, is a party plaintiff or defendant, no bond, written undertaking, or security can be required of the…

Whenever any surety on an undertaking on appeal, executed to stay proceedings upon a money judgment, pays the judgment, either with or without action, after its affirmation by the appellate court, he is substituted to the rights of the judgment creditor, and is entitled to contro…

COL3242015 Any person interested under a deed, will, or other written instrument, or under a contract, or who desires a declaration of his rights or duties with respect to another, or in respect to, in, over, or upon property, or with respect to the location of the natural channe…

The remedies provided in this Article are cumulative, and shall not be construed as restricting any remedy, provisional or otherwise, provided by law for the benefit of any party to such action, and no judgment under this Article shall preclude any party from obtaining additional…

The party prosecuting a special proceeding may be known as the plaintiff, and the adverse party as the defendant. SOURCE: CCP § 1063.

A judgment in a special proceeding is the final determination of the rights of the parties therein. The definitions of a motion and an order in a civil action are applicable to similar acts in a special proceeding. SOURCE: CCP § 1064. ---------- COL120106

The writ of certiorari may be denominated the writ of review. SOURCE: CCP § 1067.

A writ of review may be granted by any court, when an inferior tribunal, board, or officer, exercising judicial functions, has exceed the jurisdiction of such tribunal, board, or officer, and there is no appeal, nor, in the judgment of the court, any plain, speedy, and adequate r…

COL120106 The application must be made in the verified petition of the party beneficially interested, and the court may require a notice of the application to be given to the adverse party, or may grant an order to show cause why it should not be allowed, or may grant the writ wi…

The writ may be directed to the inferior tribunal, board or officer, or to any other person having the custody of the record or proceedings to be certified. When directed to a tribunal, the clerk, if there be one, must return the writ with the transcript required. SOURCE: CCP § 1…

The writ of review must command the party to whom it is directed to certify fully to the court issuing the writ, at a specified time and place, a transcript of the record and proceedings (describing or referring to them with convenient certainty), that the same may be reviewed by…

If a stay of proceedings be not intended, the words requiring the stay must be omitted from the writ; those words may be inserted or omitted, in the sound discretion of the court, but if omitted, the power of the inferior court or officer is not suspended or the proceedings staye…

The writ must be served in the same manner as a summons in civil action, except when otherwise expressly directed by the court. SOURCE: CCP § 1073. CROSS-REFERENCE: See GRCP Rule 4.

The review upon this writ cannot be extended further than to determine whether the inferior tribunal, board, or officer has regularly pursued the authority of such tribunal, board, or officer. SOURCE: CCP § 1074. COL120106

If the return of the writ be defective, the court may order a further return to be made. When a full return has been made, the court must hear the parties, or such of them as may attend for that purpose, and may thereupon give judgment, either affirming or annulling, or modifying…

A copy of the judgment, signed by the clerk, must be transmitted to the inferior tribunal, board, or officer having the custody of the record or proceedings certified up. SOURCE: CCP § 1076.

A copy of the judgment, signed by the clerk, entered upon or attached to the writ and return, constitutes the judgment roll. SOURCE: CCP § 1077. CROSS-REFERENCE: § 21603 of this Title, relating to the Judgment Roll of the Superior Court, was amended by P.L. 13-156:2 (7/9/76). ---…

The writ of mandamus may be de-nominated a writ of review. SOURCE: CCP § 1084.

It may be issued by any court, [except a commissioner's court or police court,] to any inferior tribunal, corporation, board, or person to compel the performance of an act which the law specially enjoins, as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station; or to compel the adm…

The writ must be issued in all cases where there is not a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. It must be issued on the verified petition of the party beneficially interested. SOURCE: CCP § 1086.

The writ may be either alternative or peremptory. The alternative writ must command the party to whom it is directed, immediately after the receipt of the writ, or at some other specified time, to do the act required to be performed or to show cause before the court at a specifie…

When the application is made to the court without notice to the adverse party, and the writ is allowed, the alternative must be first issued; but if the application is upon due notice and the writ is allowed, the peremptory may be issued in the first instance. With the alternativ…

On the return of the alternative, or the day on which the application for the writ is noticed, the party on whom the writ or notice has been served may answer the petition under oath, in the same manner as an answer to a complaint in a civil action. NOTE: See GRCP Rule 11. This s…

If an answer be made, which raises a question as to a matter of fact essential to the determination of the motion, and affecting the substantial rights of the parties, and upon the supposed truth of the allegation upon which the application for the writ is issued, the court may, …

On the trial, the applicant is not precluded by the answer from any valid objection to its sufficiency, and may countervail it by proof either in direct denial or by way of avoidance. SOURCE: CCP § 1091.

The motion for new trial must be made in the court in which the issue of fact is tried. SOURCE: CCP § 1092.

If no notice of a motion for a new trial be given, or if given, the motion be denied, the clerk, within five days after rendition of the decision or COL120106 denial of the motion, must transmit to the court in which the application for the writ is pending, a certified copy of th…

If no answer be made, the case must be heard on the papers of the applicant. If the answer raises only questions of law, or puts in issue immaterial statements, not affecting the substantial rights of the parties, the court must proceed to hear or fix a day for hearing the argume…

If judgment be given for the applicant, he may recover the damages which he has sustained, as may be determined by the court, together with costs; and for such damages and costs an execution may issue; and a peremptory mandate must also be awarded without delay. SOURCE: CCP § 109…

The writ must be served in the same manner as a summons in a civil action, except when otherwise expressly directed by order of the court. Service upon the majority of the members of any board or body is service upon the board or body, whether at the time of the service the board…

When a peremptory mandate has been issued and directed to any inferior tribunal, corporation, board or person, if it appears to the court that any member of such tribunal, corporation, or board, or such person upon whom the writ has been personally served, has without just excuse…

COL120106 In the event that a Court has issued a mandate to any inferior tribunal, corporation, board or person, and the inferior tribunal, corporation, board or person refuses to comply with the Court’s mandate, the Court, in addition to its other powers contained within this Ch…

The writ of prohibition is the counterpart of the writ of mandate. It arrests the proceedings of any tribunal, corporation, board, or person exercising judicial functions, when such proceedings are without or in excess of the jurisdiction of such tribunal, corporation, board, or …

It may be issued by any court except police or commissioner's courts, to an inferior tribunal or to a corporation, board, or person in all cases where there is not a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. It is issued upon the verified petition of the p…