Opinion ID: 1383099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Article IV, section 1 of the Alaska Constitution provides in part that The jurisdiction of courts shall be prescribed by law. Pursuant to this grant of power the legislature in AS 22.05.010 delineated the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Alaska in the following manner: The supreme court has final appellate jurisdiction in all actions and proceedings. The supreme court may issue injunctions, writs of review, mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, habeas corpus, and all other writs necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its jurisdiction.    An appeal to the supreme court is a matter of right, except that the state shall have no right of appeal in criminal cases, except to test the sufficiency of the indictment or information and [to hear appeals on the grounds that the sentence is excessive or too lenient]. In sketching the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory scheme whereby appellate review of lower court decisions may be had, article IV, section 15 of the Alaska Constitution is also relevant. This section provides in part that: The supreme court shall make and promulgate rules governing the administration of all courts. It shall make and promulgate rules governing practice and procedure in civil and criminal cases in all courts. Acting under this authorization, this court promulgated three regulatory provisions which are pertinent to the jurisdictional issue in the present case. Supreme Court Rule 6 reiterates the legislative prohibition, contained in AS 22.05.010, against the state's right to appeal in a criminal case. Rule 6 provides: An appeal may be taken to this court from a final judgment entered by the superior court or a judge thereof in any action or proceeding, civil or criminal, except that the state shall have a right to appeal in criminal cases only to test the sufficiency of the indictment or on the ground that the sentence is too lenient. Exercising the grant of supervisory powers conferred by Article IV, Section 15 of the Alaska Constitution, this court promulgated Supreme Court Rule 23 which provides in part: An aggrieved party may petition this court for review of any order or decision of the superior court, not otherwise appealable under Rule 6, in any action or proceeding, civil or criminal, as follows:       (c) From any order affecting a substantial right in an action or proceeding which either (1) in effect terminates the proceeding or action and prevents a final judgment therein; or (2) discontinues the action; or (3) grants a new trial. (d) Where such an order or decision involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion, and where an immediate and present review of such order or decision may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation. (e) Where postponement of review until appeal may be taken from a final judgment will result in injustice because of impairment of a legal right, or because of unnecessary delay, expense, hardship or other related factors. Supreme Court Rule 24 makes clear that the allowance of review is discretionary and is a concomitant of this court's power of supervision and review. Rule 24 provides: A review shall not be a matter of right, but will be granted only: (1) where the order or decision sought to be reviewed is of such substance and importance as to justify deviation from the normal appellate procedure by way of appeal and to require the immediate attention of this Court; (2) where the sound policy behind the general rule of requiring appeals to be taken only from final judgments is outweighed by the claim of the individual case that justice demands a present and immediate review of a particular non-appealable order or decision; or (3) where the superior court has so far departed from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings, or so far sanctioned such a departure by an inferior court or administrative tribunal, as to call for this court's power of supervision and review. The crux of the jurisdictional problem confronting the court in this case is the apparent conflict between the prohibitions against criminal appeal by the state found in AS 22.05.010 and Supreme Court Rule 6, and the authorization of discretionary review of any order or decision of the superior court, not otherwise appealable under Rule 6, in any criminal action or proceeding provided for in Supreme Court Rules 23 and 24. The key to the resolution of this conflict is for the most part to be found in provisions of AS 22.05.010. We think it significant that the legislature in prescribing this court's jurisdiction specifically provided that The supreme court may issue injunctions, writs of review, mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, habeas corpus, and all other writs necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its jurisdiction. In our view this provision is a clear manifestation of the legislature's intent that the supreme court would be able to exercise its final appellate jurisdiction other than by appeal. This conclusion in turn necessitates consideration of the question whether these other forms of review are limited by the same restriction as appeal; that is, are they unavailable to the state in criminal cases? We hold that the limitation placed upon the state's right to appeal in a criminal case, found in AS 22.05.010, was intended to apply only to instances where our jurisdiction is sought to be invoked by appeal. AS 22.05.010 clearly distinguishes between appeals and other forms of review. Appeals are specifically limited, whereas the other forms of review authorized under AS 22.05.010, by virtue of the language all    writs necessary    to the complete exercise of    [the supreme court's] jurisdiction, have no limitations placed on them. In addition to this textual-grammatical analysis of AS 22.05.010, we think that article IV, section 15 of the Alaska Constitution, and underlying policies reflected in this provision of our constitution lend support to the conclusion that the state is not barred from invoking our review jurisdiction in criminal matters. Article IV, section 2 of the Alaska Constitution provides in part that The supreme court shall be the highest court of the State, with final appellate jurisdiction. If AS 22.05.010 is construed to prohibit this court's review of any actions challenged by the state, then a conflict would arise between article IV, section 2 of the constitution and AS 22.05.010. Acceptance of this construction in the context of the case at bar would mean that the superior court, rather than this court, is the highest court of the state possessed of final appellate jurisdiction. This court would then be limited to reviewing only those cases where a conviction had been obtained and a defendant had appealed. [5] We believe that a construction of AS 22.05.010 which carries over the limitation on the state's right to appeal in criminal matters to other forms of review would be contrary to the intent of the framers of our constitution when they determined that the supreme court was to be the highest court of the state, and was to be vested with final appellate jurisdiction. Unless the supreme court can fully implement its final appellate jurisdiction through use of its review jurisdiction, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for this court to exercise proper control over the administration of criminal justice, and the development of rules of law in criminal trials. One can envision that erroneous rulings involving important questions of constitutional law will be made during a trial, or at the superior court appellate level, in favor of the accused. How are such mistakes to be corrected? Neither AS 22.05.010 nor Alaska's constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy requires that an erroneous non-final order or decision, favorable to the accused, must stand uncorrected. [6] The answer lies in the distinction made in AS 22.05.010 between appeals and other forms of review and the placement of final appellate jurisdiction in the supreme court under article IV, section 2 of the Alaska Constitution. We therefore hold that the state can invoke our discretionary review jurisdiction in criminal cases where the matter sought to be reviewed involves a non-final order or decision of the superior court.