Executive Order 3213

by President of the United States

By virtue of the authority vested in me by "An Act to provide for the opening maintenance, protection and operation of The Panama Canal, and the sanitation and government of the Canal Zone," approved August 24, 1912, known as the "Panama Canal Act," I hereby establish and prescribe the following rules of practice to govern the District Court and the Magistrates' Courts in the Panama Canal Zone:

Section I. Each party to any civil suit instituted in the District Court or any Magistrate court of the Canal Zone shall be responsible for the costs incurred by him in such suit, and the marshal, constable or other officer, authorized to execute any process in such cases, shall not execute the same unless the fees allowed by law for the service of such process shall be paid in advance by the party seeking such process, unless such party to the suit is entitled to prosecute the same in forma pauperis, as hereinafter provided.

Section II. The plaintiff in every civil case in the District Court shall deposit with the clerk thereof a docket fee of ten dollars in cash and every plaintiff instituting a suit in the Magistrate courts shall deposit a docket fee in said court of five dollars; and the suit shall not he filed by the clerk or the magistrate unless the said docket fee is paid in the manner herein provided. The monies to be deposited shall be applied to the payment of costs as they accrue.

Section III. Any party to a civil case in the District Court, who demands a trial by jury, shall accompany said demand with a deposit of ten dollars as a jury fee; and unless such deposit is made, the case shall be tried without the intervention of a jury.

Section IV. The plaintiff in any civil suit or proceedings in the District Court or in either of the Magistrate courts may be ruled to give security for the costs upon motion of the opposing party or of any officer of the court interested in the costs accruing in said suit; and it shall be the duty of the court to require the plaintiff to give such security for costs within a reasonable time thereafter and not later than ten days after the motion is presented to the court; and if the plaintiff shall fail to comply with the order of the court within the time prescribed by the court or judge thereof, the suit shall be dismissed.

Section V. A new or additional undertaking may be ordered, within such time as the court or judge may prescribe, upon proof that the original undertaking is insufficient security, and failure on the part of the plaintiff to comply with the order of the court, or judge, within the time prescribed, shall cause the dismissal of the suit.

The security for costs required by this section may consist of a money deposit, bond of a surety company, or cost bond with two or more good and sufficient sureties; the form of such security to be determined by the judge or magistrate of the court before whom the proceedings are pending. If personal security is furnished, the sureties must be residents of the Canal Zone, and no officer of the court or attorney practicing before the court shall be accepted as surety.

Section VI. All bonds given as security for costs shall authorize judgment against all of the obligors of the said bonds, jointly and severally, for such costs, to be entered in the final judgment of the case or special proceedings.

Section VII. Any citizen of the United States, entitled to commence any suit or action in any court in the Canal Zone, may commence and prosecute or defend to conclusion any such suit or action, without being required to prepay fees or costs or give security therefor, before or after bringing such suit or action, upon filing in the said court a statement, under oath, in writing, that because of his poverty he is unable to pay the costs of said suit or action, or to give security for same, and that he believes that he is entitled to the redress he seeks by such suit or action, and setting forth the nature of the said cause of action.

The opposing party in the suit, the clerk of the District Court or his assistant, or the magistrate, as the case may be, may contest the inability of the party to pay costs or his inability to furnish security for same; and the contest shall be heard at such time as the court or magistrate may determine. If no contest is made upon the affidavit, or if the same is admitted by the court or magistrate after the contest, it shall be the duty of the officers of the court thereafter to issue and serve all processes and perform all duties on behalf of such party as in other cases.

Section VIII. No security for costs shall be required of the United States, The Panama Canal, or any of its dependencies or from the public administrator of The Panama Canal.

Section IX. The provisions of this order, relating to security for costs, shall apply to an intervenor; and shall also apply to a defendant who seeks a judgment against the plaintiff on a counterclaim, after the defendant shall have discontinued his suit.

Section X. When the costs are secured by the provisions of an attachment or other bond, filed by the party required to give satisfactory security for costs, no further security shall be required.

Section XI. This order shall apply to pending cases in the District Court and the Magistrate courts.

Section XII. Costs shall ordinarily be allowed to the prevailing party as a matter of course, but the court shall have power for special reasons to adjudge that either party shall pay the costs of an action, or that the same be divided as may be equitable.

Section XIII. The Executive Order of August 14, 1914, "To Require Security for Costs in Civil Cases," and all other laws, orders and decrees, or parts thereof, in conflict with this order, are hereby repealed.

Section XIV. This order shall take effect thirty days from this date.

Woodrow Wilson 

The White House,

9 January, 1920.