Frasher v. Rader

Citations

• 124 Cal. 132
• 56 P. 797
• 1899 Cal. LEXIS 957

Syllabus

<p>Certiorari—Office of Writ.—The writ of certiorari runs to review the action of an inferior tribunal exercising judicial functions only upon a showing that such tribunal has exceeded its jurisdiction, and that the legal remedies in the caste are inadequate. It cannot to be used to review legislative, executive, or ministerial acts, nor the acts of a judicial tribunal in the exercise of its discretion.</p> <p>Id.—Non judicial Action of Fire Commissioners—Permit to Build Blacksmith Shop—Requirements of Ordinance.—The action of the board of fire commissioners of Los Angeles in determining, under the requirements of a municipal ordinance, whether three-fourths of the property owners of the block have petitioned for a permit to build a blacksmith shop in the block, and in deciding whether to grant or refuse the permit, is not judicial, but is ministerial and discretionary; and its action in granting such permit is not subject to review on certiorari, notwithstanding the petition for the writ avers that three-fourths of the property owners in the block did not petition for the permit.</p> <p>Id.—Judicial and Nonjudicial Decisions.—Decisions, to be judicial, must declare the law, and define the rights of the parties under it. The decisions of political, executive, legislative and ministerial boards, bodies, and officers, in the exercise of their judgments, respecting the conduct of matters intrusted to them, and determining the existence or nonexistence of facts, are not judgments pronounced by a judicial tribunal.</p>