This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2006-03-30 |
GARCIA, J. |
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| It may be, as the Court has consistently held, that the payment of docket fees within the prescribed period is jurisdictional and is necessary for the perfection of an appeal. [10] But time and again, the Court, bearing in mind the importance and purpose of the remedy of appeal in our judicial structure, has advised courts to proceed with caution on matters of docket and appeal fees lest they undermine one's right to appeal or deprive a party-litigant "the amplest opportunity for the proper and just disposition of his cause, freed from the constraints of technicalities."[11] In line with this sound policy, we have thus held that, in appealed cases, the failure to pay the appellate court docket fee does not, without more, automatically result in the dismissal of the appeal nor affect the court's jurisdiction, the dismissal being discretionary on the part of the appellate court. As we stressed in Santos v. Court of Appeals:[12] | |||||