A. MOMOLU MASSAQUOI, by and through his attorney-in-fact, JOHN P. BEH, Appellant, v. JERRY I. WILKINS, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, MONTSERRADO COUNTY. Argued October 22, 1968. Decided February 6, 1969. 1. Powers of attorney conferred by a Liberian national upon another Liberian national do not have to be registered and probated to make them valid instruments for the purposes recited therein. In an action of debt, the defendant demurred to the complaint, contending that the power of attorney constituting a party herein the representative of the obligee had not been registered and probated as required by law, and rendered the complaint invalid. The action was dismissed in the lower court and an appeal taken from the judgment. Judgment reversed, case remanded. Moses K. Yangbe for appellant. No appearance for appellee. MR. JUSTICE SIMPSON delivered the opinion of the court. On January 19, 1966, a writ of summons issued out of the Magisterial Court for the Commonwealth District of Monrovia, commanding Jerry I. Wilkins to answer the complaint of A. Momolu Massaquoi, by and through his attorney-in-fact, John Beh, in an action of debt. The complainant substantially alleged that the defen-. dant, Jerry Wilkins, was indebted to the plaintiff in the amount of $1,350.00. The plaintiff complained that the defendant had initially owed him $1,500.00, but that $150.00 of this amount had been paid. Nevertheless, defendant, though requested to do so, had on sundry occa166 LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS 167 sions failed to comply with the request for complete payment. The defendant, having been brought under the jurisdiction of the court, appeared and demurred to the complaint. He contended that the power of attorney constituting John Beh the attorney-in-fact for A. Momolu Massaquoi had not been registered and probated and, therefore, the same was not legally cognizable. It was the defendant’s contention that the power of attorney had been executed on January 13, 1964, thirteen months prior to the entry of suit, and said power of attorney not having been probated and registered, it constituted an act of neglect on the part of the plaintiff. In the circumstances, it was contended that the action should be abated. The plaintiff countered this demurrer by asserting that the power of attorney was for the collection of money predicated upon a debt for personal property received. This being the case, there was no need to have the power of attorney probated and registered. Bryant v. African Produce Company, [1937] LRSC 17; 6 L.L.R. 27 (1937), was cited as support for the demurrer. The Magisterial Court presided over by Associate Magistrate C. A. Benson sustained the demurrer and ordered the case dismissed. Plaintiff, now appellant, excepted to the ruling and prayed an appeal to the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Montserrado County. The appeal was duly granted and perfected. At the call of the case in the Circuit Court, then being presided over by the assigned Circuit Judge, Hon. Daniel S. P. Draper, the demurrer previously raised in the Magisterial Court was again put forward and the Circuit Court requested not to entertain the action, predicated upon the nonprobation of the power of attorney from Massaquoi to Beh. Reference was again made to the Bryant case. Therefore, we feel it necessary to review thoroughly the facts and law as contained in that case. Therein one Faulkner was a representative of the African 168 LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS Produce Company. He had, previous to the institution of the particular action, been issued a power of attorney to represent that firm in Liberia. However, at the time of the filing of the suit the said authorization had not been probated and registered. This Court, at that time, held that the failure to effect probation and registration of the company’s authorization prior to the institution of suit constituted a fatal error. The court thereupon reversed the ruling of Circuit Judge Summerville who had in the lower court held that registration and probation were not necessary for the proper maintenance of the action. In the strongly worded dissent, Mr. Justice Grimes, at p. 34, contended that the position of the Circuit Judge should be sustained and the authorization deemed clothed with legality, for although the Acts of 1896 held, “Any person or persons acting as the agent or agents of foreign firms, or companies, must in every case register their powers of attorney in the office of the Registrar of each County in which said firms or companies may have offices or business establishments, no penalty was prescribed for the neglect of a party to probate and register. 4/ fortiori, where there was no penalty imposable a breach of the law is not punishable.” In the Bryant case, the Court dealt with the matter of the 1896 Act quoted, which concerned itself with agents of foreign firms. Since the matter of the reversal of Judge Summerville is not squarely before us, we shall refrain from recalling that opinion and confine ourselves to the issues presented by the facts in the present case. The power of attorney in the case at bar was issued by one Liberian to another to recover a sum certain from a third Liberian. We have carefully scrutinized every act passed by the Legislature and are unable to come upon one which requires the probation and registration of powers of attorney. Our laws are replete with requirements for the probation and subsequent registration of LIBERIAN LAW REPORTS 169 certain classes of instruments. There are specific enumerations of the types of instruments that are to be probated and registered to the exclusion of others, and those not specifically mentioned do not fall within the purview of the rules in respect to probation and registration. In view of the above, it is our holding that the ruling of the Bryant case is not applicable hereto, and that the lower court improperly sustained the demurrer. The ruling of the trial judge is, therefore, reversed, and the case is hereby remanded, with specific instructions to the judge presiding by assignment over the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court to proceed immediately with the hearing of this case on its merits. Costs are ruled against the appellee. And it is hereby so ordered. Reversed and remanded.