§ 5.6.3 Appellate Review.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 5.6.3 Appellate Review. Both the Federal and State Declaratory Judgments Acts provide that a declaration issued pursuant to these acts has the force of a final judgment and can be appealed and reviewed on appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 2201 (1994); A.R.S. §§ 12-1831, 12-1837 . “Even when a [federal] district court abuses its discretion by rendering a declaratory judgment that fails to establish legal rights and duties with precision, the judgment may be considered final for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.” Planet Insurance Co. v. Mead Reinsurance Corp., 789 F.2d 668, 670 (9th Cir. 1986). Being subject to the provisions of the Rules, appellate procedure is governed by the normal provisions regulating appeals. Accordingly, for example, just as in other appeals, the appellate court views the evidence in a light most favorable to sustaining the judgment of the trial court. Cornman Tweedy 560, LLC v. City of Casa Grande, 213 Ariz. 1, 2, 137 P.3d 309, 310 (Ct. App. 2006), review denied (2006) .

Because federal jurisdiction depends on the presence of a case or controversy, which, in turn, requires the presence of adverse parties each with a real stake in the outcome, if one of those parties is no longer present after the appellate process begins, the appellate court can lose its jurisdiction of the appeal. Thus, in Hollingsworth v. Perry, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 2652 (2013) , the United States Supreme Court held that proponents of California’s Proposition 8 initiative, providing that only marriage between a man and a woman was valid, lacked standing to contest a District Court decision that invalidated the proposition and that the Ninth Circuit lacked jurisdiction of the appeal when the state officials charged with enforcing the proposition decided not to appeal that decision. In federal appeals, “ Article III [of the United States Constitution] demands that an “actual controversy persist throughout all stages of the litigation. Id. at 2661, quoting Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 133 S. Ct. at 726 .

An appeal of a declaratory judgment case may decide legal issues not raised in the court below if they raise an important issue bearing on the disposition of the appeal. Pleak v. Entrada Property Owners’ Association, 205 Ariz. 471, 475, 73 P.3d 602, 606 (Ct. App. 2003), review granted, affirmed, 207 Ariz. 418, 87 P.3d 831 (2004) (court of appeals exercised discretion to consider issue of whether state still recognized common law dedication of roadway easements).

Appendix 5:1

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