Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rule on appeal; question of law explained.


In Macawiwili Gold Mining and Development Co., Inc. v. Court of Appeals, the Court summarized the rule on appeals as follows:

(1)  In all cases decided by the RTC in the exercise of its original jurisdiction, appeal may be made to the Court of Appeals by mere notice of appeal where the appellant raises questions of fact or mixed questions of fact and law;
(2)  In all cases decided by the RTC in the exercise of its original jurisdiction where the appellant raises only questions of law, the appeal must be taken to the Supreme Court on a petition for review on certiorari
under Rule
(3)  All appeals from judgments rendered by the RTC in the
exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, regardless of whether the appellant raises questions of fact, questions of law, or mixed questions of fact and
                                                   
As cited in Sevilleno v. Carilo, G.R. No. 146454, September 14, 2007, 533 SCRA 385, 388.Decision 6 G.R. No. 181664
law, shall be brought to the Court of Appeals  by filing a petition for review under Rule 42.

A question of law arises when there is doubt as to what the law is on a certain state of facts, while there is a question of fact when the doubt arises as to the truth or falsity of the alleged facts. For a question to be one of law, the
same must not involve an examination of the probative value of the evidence presented by the litigants or any of them. The resolution of the issue must rest solely on what the law provides on the given set of circumstances. Once it is
clear that the issue invites a review of the evidence presented, the question posed is one of fact. Thus, the test of whether a question is one of law or of fact is not the appellation given to such question by the party raising the same;
rather, it is whether the appellate court can determine the issue raised without reviewing or evaluating the evidence, in which case, it is a question of law; otherwise it is a question of fact.