Opinion ID: 2634847
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: cause of action under utah constitution article xii, section 20

Text: ¶ 49 As indicated above, the parties disagree as to whether we need determine whether Article XII, Section 20 is self-executing when we have already determined that the Summit Water appellants may proceed with their statutory claim under the Utah Antitrust Act. While the Summit Water appellants suggest that we need not reach the constitutional issue, the County appellees allege that we must resolve the issue of whether the constitutional provision trumps all the liability and damage limitations in the 1979 Act. We accept the concession of the Summit Water appellants for the following reasons. First, the County appellees have not provided any specific citation to the record where we might find the assertion that they ascribe to the Summit Water appellants. The amended complaint submitted by the Summit Water appellants does list Article XII, Section 20 as a parallel basis, together with the Utah Antitrust Act, for awarding injunctive relief against the County appellees and damages against Montgomery Watson and Jarvis. The complaint does not suggest, however, that the constitutional provision trumps the statute in this regard. ¶ 50 Second, the Summit Water appellants lost on the issue of the proper interpretation of Article XII, Section 20 below. Their concession on that point, if we decide in their favor on the statutory issue, suggests that they do not consider a constitutional right of action essential to their complaint as long as their statutory claim is intact. Our settled policy is to avoid giving advisory opinions in regard to issues unnecessary to the resolution of the claims before us. Savage v. Utah Youth Vill., 2004 UT 102, ¶ 25, 104 P.3d 1242. We therefore decline to analyze whether Article XII, Section 20 is self-executing.