LUSINI KONNEH, Appellant, v. MAMADEE KAMARA, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, NIMBA COUNTY, Argued November 8, 1965. Decided January 21, 1966. A motion to dismiss an appeal for failure to complete the jurisdictional prerequisites within the statutorily prescribed period of time will be denied when the record transmitted to the Supreme Court is insufficient for determination of whether the motion is well founded. On appeal from a judgment in an “action for damages for wrong,” appellee’s motion to dismiss was denied. A. Garga Richardson for appellant. ards for appellee. J. Dossen Rich- MR. JUSTICE the Court. WARDSWORTH delivered the opinion of At the call of this case for hearing, a motion filed by the appellee was read by the clerk of this Court. The motion in its body reads as follows : “And now conies Mamadee Kamara, appellee in the above entitled cause, and most respectfully moves and prays this Honorable Court to dismiss the appeal as taken by the appellant for the following legal reasons to wit : “1. Because appellee says that judgment was rendered in this case during the February 1965 term of the Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit, Nimba County, on the 27th day of March, 1965, and that up to the filing of this motion, the appellant has failed to prosecute and perfect his appeal as more fully appears from the certificate of the clerk of the said circuit court hereto attached and marked Exhibit A to form 248 LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS 249 part of this motion ; that is to say, although judgment was rendered on the aforesaid 27th day of March, 1965, the appellant has not filed any appeal bond or notice of appeal, the statutory time allowed having expired beyond 4 months.” Countering this motion, appellant filed a resistance which reads in its body as follows : “And now comes Lusini Konneh of Bahn, appellant in the above entitled cause, and most respectfully prays this Honorable Court to deny the motion of appellee for reasons following, to wit: “1. Because appellant says that the motion as filed is premature in that the records in the court below have been certified and forwarded to this Court, but a certificate from the clerk of said court states that appellant has not perfected the appeal. Appellant submits the the only time such motion could be filed is when records of the trial and judgment of the court below have been certified and forwarded to this Court, barring which the motion is premature. “2. And also because appellant submits that should this Court take cognizance of this motion it will open a floodgate for anybody to obtain a certificate and file a motion to dismiss an appeal, which practice has not heretofore obtained in this jurisdiction.” Upon careful study and perusal of the circumstances surrounding this cause, it is discovered that the records of the trial court and the judgment thereof have not been transmitted to this Court up to the hearing of the motion now under review. The text of the certificate buttressing appellee’s motion which was issued over the signature of the clerk of the Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit, Nimba County, reads in pertinent part as follows. “The records of this court reveal that an appeal was announced in the case of Lusini Konneh, plaintiff, versus Mamadee Kamara, defendant, in an action of 250 LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS damages for wrong, but up to the issuance of this certificate, said appeal has not been perfected by means of filing an appeal bond. The bill of exceptions, etc., has been filed, but no appeal bond has been filed as yet.” The above certificate establishes that the jurisdictional steps prescribed by law in perfecting an appeal were not all taken or completed. This being the case, and the records in this case not having reached this Court, we are not in the position to inspect the said records so as to determine whether or not the ground of the motion for dismissal of this appeal is well founded in law. In view of the foregoing, the motion is hereby denied. And it is hereby so ordered. Motion denied.