California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Spencer v. Merced County Office of Educ., 59 Cal.App.4th 1429, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 750 (Cal. App. 1997):
"Government Code section 946.6 is a remedial statute intended to provide relief from technical rules which otherwise provide a trap for the unwary. The remedial policy underlying the statute is that wherever possible cases should be heard on their merits. Thus, a denial of such relief by the trial court is examined more rigorously than where relief is granted and any doubts which may exist should be resolved in favor of the application...." (Munoz v. State of California, supra, 33 Cal.App.4th at p. 1778, 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 860.)
Page 754
Spencer claims the trial court abused its discretion in denying her request for relief and argues that this case is very similar to Bettencourt v. Los Rios Community College Dist., supra, 42 Cal.3d 270, 228 Cal.Rptr. 190, 721 P.2d 71.
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