G.R. No.: L-12144

FACTS:
1. The Roman Catholic Apostolic Church filed an application for land registration and obtained a final judgment decreeing the registration of its title on September 30, 1915.
2. The court ordered Enrique Altavas, the Chief of the General Land Registration Office (GLRO), to comply with Section 21 of Act No. 2347, which required him to prepare and issue the decree of registration.
3. Altavas refused to issue the decree, citing Act No. 2556 (passed after the final judgment), which authorized the GLRO to collect additional fees. He demanded payment of these new fees from the Church before issuing the decree.
4. The court issued a second order on March 3, 1916, directing Altavas to comply with the original order without requiring payment under Act No. 2556, under pain of contempt.
5. Altavas sought to appeal this second order by filing a bill of exceptions. The respondent judge, P.M. Moir, refused to approve the bill on the ground that Altavas was not a party to the original land registration case and thus lacked standing to appeal.
6. Altavas then filed this petition for mandamus to compel the judge to approve his bill of exceptions.

ISSUE:
The procedural issue is whether the respondent judge should approve the bill of exceptions filed by Altavas. However, the parties submitted the substantive issue for resolution: Whether the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church should pay the additional fees imposed by Act No. 2556 for the issuance of the decree, given that it obtained a final judgment of registration prior to the law’s passage.

RULING:
The Supreme Court resolved the substantive issue, making a decision on the procedural issue unnecessary. The Court held that the amount of fees should be determined by the law in force prior to the passage of Act No. 2556. The Roman Catholic Church had already obtained a final judgment decreeing registration and acquired a vested right to the decree before Act No. 2556 took effect. The delay in issuing the decree was not attributable to the Church. Therefore, the Court of Land Registration was correct in ordering Altavas to issue the decree upon payment of the fees chargeable under the old law. Consequently, the petition for mandamus was dismissed. No costs were awarded.