Does a Superior Court have jurisdiction to dismiss a small claims appeal in the absence of a request from appellant?

1 In addition to the issues which we address in this opinion, the superior court's certification order poses the issue of whether a superior court, at a trial de novo after a small claims appeal, has jurisdiction to dismiss the appeal "in the absence of a request from appellant, appellant's failure to appear, or lack of timely prosecution." We do not resolve this issue because it appears that none of these circumstances occurred in this case. Therefore, we would violate the rule prohibiting advisory opinions (see People ex rel. Lynch v. Superior Court (1970) 1 Cal.3d 910, 912, 83 Cal.Rptr. 670, 464 P.2d 126), if we were to reach this issue.