6 Rob. 365 | La. | 1844
The plaintiff has taken this appeal from a judgment of the Commercial Court, dismissing his action on the ground
It is said that this is an action of detinue, and, therefore, ex contractu ; that the petitioner claims the goods detained, or their value, in the alternative, and that so should be the judgment rendered ; that, at all events, no exception having been pleaded below, the Judge was bound to determine the case on its merits, and erred in dismissing it, ex officio. The allegations of the plaintiff’s petition, are inconsistent with the nature of an action of detinue, which lies upon a bailment, or finding. The defendant, in such an action, must be alleged or shown to have come lawfully into possession of the goods, either by delivery to him, or by finding them ; whence arises an implied obligation, or contract, to return the property on demand, or its value. In the present case it is not alleged that either of the defendants was in the actual possession of the books, the value of which is claimed, at the time of the institution of this suit; but, on the contrary, it is averred that, after illegally seizing or taking possession of the property, the Sheriff offered it for sale, on the 13th of April, 1842; and the plaintiff’s
The want of jurisdiction relied on by the Judge below being ratione materia, he was bound to notice it. The law creating the court over which he presides, evidently intended that it should take cognizance principally, if not exclusively, of suits of a commercial nature; hence it has excluded, expressly, from its jurisdiction several classes of cases, among which are actions for the recovery of damages for offences and quasi-offences. The Judge has, in our opinion, taken a correct view of his duty in considering himself bound to protect the jurisdiction of that court for the class of cases for which it was created, and thus to enable himself to dispatch the important business brought before him, with that promptness which was expected of him, and which, in justice to him, we should add, he has always shown.
Judgment affirmed.