Hafer v. Superior Court

I respectfully dissent.

I

At bedrock is this proposition of law which controls our writ issuance: “[A] tribunal has jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction.” (Abelleira v. District Court of Appeal (1941) 17 Cal.2d 280, 302 [109 P.2d 942, 132 A.L.R. 715].) And the appeal court does not interfere until the trial court has performed this threshold function. As the Supreme Court stated in Rescue Army v. Municipal Court (28 Cal.2d 460, 464 [171 P.2d 8]: “A court has jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction, for a basic issue in any case before a tribunal is its power to act, and it must…