Título I. Normas generales

The fundamental precepts of this law are the general rules for the application, interpretation and integration of the Guatemalan legal system.

The law is the source of the legal order. Jurisprudence shall supplement it.

Custom shall govern only in the absence of applicable law or by delegation of the law, provided it is not contrary to morals or public order and is proven.

Ignorance, disuse, custom or practice to the contrary may not be alleged against the observance of the law.

Acts contrary to mandatory norms and to express prohibitory norms are null and void by operation of law, unless such norms establish a different effect for the case of contravention.

Acts carried out under the cover of the text of a norm that pursue a result prohibited by the legal system, or contrary to it, shall be deemed executed in fraud of law and shall not prevent the due application of the norm sought to be evaded.

The force of the law extends to every person, national or foreign, resident or in transit, except for the provisions of international law accepted by Guatemala, as well as to the entire territory of the Republic, which comprises the soil, the subsoil, the terrestrial maritime zone, the continental shelf, the zone of economic influence and the airspace, as defined by the laws and international law.

The law enters into force eight days after its full publication in the Official Gazette, unless the same extends or restricts said time limit. All days shall be counted in computing that time limit.

The law has no retroactive effect, nor does it modify acquired rights. Criminal law is excepted insofar as it favors the accused.

Procedural laws have immediate effect, except as the law itself determines.

Laws are repealed by subsequent laws:

a)By express declaration of the new laws;

b)Partially, by incompatibility of provisions contained in the new laws with the preceding ones;

c)Totally, because the new law regulates, in full, the subject matter considered by the prior law;

d)Totally or partially, by declaration of unconstitutionality, issued in a final judgment by the Constitutional Court.

By the repeal of a law, the laws that it may have repealed shall not regain force.

The Tribunals shall always observe the principle of normative hierarchy and of supremacy of the Political Constitution of the Republic, over any law or treaty, except treaties or conventions on human rights, which prevail over domestic law.

Laws or treaties prevail over regulations.

Provisions that contradict a higher-ranking norm lack validity.

Norms shall be interpreted in accordance with their text, according to the proper meaning of their words, to their context and in accordance with constitutional provisions. When a law is clear, its literal tenor shall not be disregarded under the pretext of consulting its spirit.

The whole of a law shall serve to illustrate the content of each of its parts, but passages thereof may be clarified having regard to the following order:

a)To the purpose and spirit thereof;

b)To the authentic history of its institution;

c)To the provisions of other laws on analogous cases or situations;

d)To the manner that appears most consistent with equity and the general principles of law.

The official language is Spanish. The words of the law shall be understood in accordance with the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española, in the corresponding meaning, unless the legislator has expressly defined them.

If a word used in the law does not appear defined in the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española, it shall be given its usual meaning in the country, place or region concerned.

Technical words used in science, technology or art shall be understood in their proper sense, unless it expressly appears that they have been used in a different sense.

A law whose purpose is to clarify or interpret another law produces no effects with respect to executed acts, nor with respect to res judicata.

The special provisions of the laws prevail over the general provisions of the same or of other laws.

When, pursuant to subparagraph d) of Article 10 of this law, it is appropriate to apply equity in a decision of any nature, such decisions may rest exclusively upon it only when the law expressly so permits.

Judges may not suspend, delay or deny the administration of justice without incurring liability. In cases of lack, obscurity, ambiguity or insufficiency of the law, they shall decide in accordance with the rules established in Article 10 of this law, and shall then bring the matter to the knowledge of the Supreme Court of Justice so that, if such is the case, it may exercise its Initiative of Law.

The defense of the person and of their rights is inviolable. No one may be tried by commission or by special tribunals. No one may be convicted nor deprived of their rights without having been summoned, heard and defeated in legal proceedings conducted before a competent and pre-established judge or tribunal, in which the essential formalities and guarantees thereof are observed; nor may they be temporarily affected in their rights, except by virtue of a procedure that meets the same requirements.

Rights must be exercised in accordance with the requirements of good faith.

The excess and bad faith in the exercise of a right, or abstention from the same, that causes damage or losses to persons or properties, obligates the holder to indemnify them.

The rights granted by law may be waived, provided that such waiver is not contrary to social interest, public order or prejudicial to a third party, nor prohibited by other laws.

The International System of Units (SI) is the official system of mandatory use throughout the national territory.

The Law recognizes kinship by consanguinity within the fourth degree, kinship by affinity within the second degree, and civil kinship, which arises from adoption in accordance with the Law. Spouses are relatives, but do not form a degree.

The social interest prevails over the private interest.

Deficiencies of other laws shall be supplied by what is prescribed herein.

The status and capacity of persons and family relations are governed by the laws of their domicile.

The qualification of the nature of the institution or juridical relationship shall be effected in accordance with the law of the place where it is adjudicated.

The status and capacity of the foreign natural person acquired in accordance with their personal law shall be recognized in Guatemala if it is not contrary to public order.

(Lex rei sitae). Property is governed in accordance with the law of the place of its location.

(Locus regit actum). The extrinsic formalities of acts and juridical transactions are governed in accordance with the law of the place of their execution.

(Lex loci celebrationis). The intrinsic formalities of acts and juridical transactions are governed in accordance with the law of the place of their celebration.

(Lex loci executionis). If the act or juridical transaction is to be performed in a place different from that in which it was executed, everything concerning its performance is governed in accordance with the law of the place of performance.

Juridical acts and transactions shall be governed by the law to which the parties have submitted, unless such submission is contrary to express prohibitory laws or to public order.

In cases where the juridical act or transaction is executed abroad and is to have effects in the Republic of Guatemala, the parties may submit such act or contract to the extrinsic and intrinsic formalities prescribed by national laws.

The jurisdictional jurisdiction of the national tribunals with respect to foreign persons without domicile in the country, the proceedings and the interim protective measures, are governed in accordance with the law of the place in which the action is brought.

Guatemalan tribunals are competent to summon foreign or Guatemalan persons who are outside the country, in the following cases:

a)When an action is brought that is related to acts or juridical transactions carried out in Guatemala;

b)When any action is brought concerning property located in Guatemala;

c)When it concerns acts or juridical transactions in which it has been stipulated that the parties submit to the jurisdiction of the tribunals of Guatemala.

Guatemalan tribunals shall apply, on its own initiative, where applicable, the laws of other States. The party invoking the application of foreign law or dissenting from that invoked or applied shall establish its text, force and meaning by certification of two practicing attorneys in the country whose legislation is at issue, which shall be submitted duly legalized. Without prejudice thereto, the national tribunal may inquire into such facts, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, through diplomatic channels or by other means recognized by international law.

Conflicts resulting from the application of laws enacted at different times shall be decided in accordance with the following provisions:

a)Civil status acquired in accordance with the law in force on the date of its constitution shall subsist, although such law loses its force; but the rights and obligations attached thereto shall be subordinated to the subsequent law, whether it creates new rights or obligations, or modifies or repeals the former ones.

b)The rights of administration that the father of the family may have over the property of the child, and which had been acquired under a prior law, shall be subject, as to their exercise and duration, to the rules prescribed by a subsequent law.

c)A minor who under the rule of a law has acquired the right to administer his property shall not lose it under the rule of another, although the latter requires new conditions to acquire them; but in the exercise of this right he shall be subject to the rules established by the subsequent law.

d)If a new law expands or restricts the conditions necessary to perform certain acts or to acquire certain rights, said law must be applied immediately to all persons whom it comprises.

e)Every real right acquired under a law and in conformity therewith subsists under the rule of another; but as to its exercise and encumbrances and as to its extinction the provisions of the new law shall prevail.

f)The legal position constituted under a prior law is preserved under the rule of a subsequent law.

g)Natural and voluntary servitudes validly constituted under the rule of a prior law shall be subject in their exercise and preservation to the rules established by another new law.

h)The external solemnities of wills and of donations by cause of death shall be governed by the law contemporaneous with their execution; but the provisions contained therein shall be subordinated to the law in force at the time of the testator's death.

i)In intestate successions, the right of representation of those called thereto shall be governed by the law in force on the date of the decedent's death.

j)In the adjudication and partition of an inheritance or legacy, the foregoing rule shall be observed.

k)In every act or contract, the laws in force at the time of its execution shall be deemed incorporated, except those concerning the manner of claiming in trial the rights resulting therefrom.

l)Acts and contracts validly executed under the rule of one law may be proved under the rule of another by the means that the former established for their justification; but the manner in which the evidence must be rendered shall be subordinated to the law in force at the time it is rendered.

m)Laws concerning the substantiation and rituality of judicial proceedings prevail over prior ones, from the moment they must begin to govern, but the time limits that had begun to run and the steps that were already initiated shall be governed by the law in force at the time of their initiation.

For documents from abroad that are to have effect in Guatemala to be admissible, they must be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If the documents are drafted in a foreign language, they must be rendered into Spanish under oath by a translator authorized in the Republic; if there is none for a given language, they shall be translated under oath by two persons who speak and write both languages, with notarial legalization of their signatures.

In addition to the requirements indicated in the preceding article, the powers or mandates, as well as the documents to be recorded in the public registries, shall be protocolized before a notary and the authorities shall act on the basis of the respective testimonials, which shall be issued on stamped paper of the lowest value, the notary attesting that the respective tax has been paid in the original document.

Upon reviewing the notarial protocols, the director of the general archive of protocols shall state in the respective record whether the corresponding legal taxes have been covered in the protocolized documents. In the event that they have not been covered, the director shall give notice to the fiscal offices for the resulting legal effects.

In cases not provided for in the preceding article, protocolization shall be optional for the interested party, but the documents may not be withdrawn from the file in which the originals are submitted, even after it has concluded, unless, in the judgment of the corresponding authority, they were not determinative for the decision, which the authority shall record under its liability in the relevant file, and a certified copy shall be left in the record.

However, such documents may be withdrawn from pending voluntary proceedings by means of a detailed written notation, but in such case the file shall remain suspended until the document is again presented in due form or the transcript of its protocolization.

In no case shall documents showing indicia of falsity be returned.

Notaries shall give notice to the General Archive of Protocols, within the time limit of ten days, of each protocolization they carry out in accordance with this law, indicating the date and place on which the document was issued, the public official who authorized it, the object of the act and the names and surnames of the grantors or persons to whom it refers, as well as of the taxes that were paid at the time of protocolization. The Archive shall issue a receipt for each notice and shall keep annual indices in alphabetical order of the grantors.

Omission or delay of the notice shall cause the notary to incur a fine of twenty-five quetzales (Q.25.00) which the director of the General Archive of Protocols shall impose and which shall be paid into judicial funds.

The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the obligation relating to the special testimony and to the register of powers. The special testimony shall contain a complete transcription or reproduction of the protocolized document.

Before the protocolization of a document coming from abroad or its processing when the original is presented, the corresponding sealed paper and stamps tax shall be paid by means of fiscal stamps.

That prescribed in this chapter is not applicable to documents governed by special rules, of internal or international order, in all that is contrary to their nature, purpose or particular regime.

Guatemalan diplomatic and consular public officials, when they are notaries, are empowered to certify facts they witness and circumstances known to them and to authorize acts and contracts abroad that are to have effect in Guatemala. Guatemalan notaries may likewise authorize them and all shall do so on plain paper, producing their legal effects as a notarial act from the date on which they are protocolized in Guatemala. Protocolization shall be done in the manner established by Article 38 of this law.

The laws, provisions and judgments of other countries, as well as documents or particular provisions from abroad, have no validity or effect whatsoever in the Republic of Guatemala if they impair national sovereignty, contradict the Political Constitution of the Republic or contravene public order.

In the computation of legal time limits, in all kinds of proceedings, the following rules shall be observed:

a)The day is twenty-four hours, which shall begin to be counted from midnight, zero hours.

b)For legal purposes, night shall be understood as the time between eighteen hours of one day and six hours of the following day.

c)Months and years shall be regulated by the number of days corresponding to them according to the Gregorian calendar.

d)Years and months shall end on the day before the date on which they began to be counted.

e)In time limits computed by days, non-working days shall not be included. Non-working days are officially declared holidays, Sundays and Saturdays when, by adoption of a continuous workday or a weekly workday of not less than forty (40) hours, they are treated as days of rest, and days on which for any cause the tribunal has remained closed during all working hours.

f)Every time limit must be computed from the day following the last notification, except the time limit established or fixed by hours, which shall be computed as established by Article 46 of this law.

In tax matters the computation shall be made in the manner determined by the laws on the matter.

The time limit established or fixed in hours shall be computed taking into account the twenty-four hours of the day from the moment of the last notification or from that fixed for its commencement.

If it involves the filing of an appeal, the time limit shall be computed from the moment the working day begins on the immediately following business day.

When an urgent procedural act is to be carried out, the judge, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, shall act on non-business days and hours, stating therein the reason for the urgency and making it known to the parties.

The time limit by reason of distance is mandatory, and the authority shall fix it according to the cases and circumstances.

The judge shall set a time limit when the law does not expressly provide for it.

Time limits do not run due to legitimate impediment, qualified or notorious, that has supervened upon the judge or the party. The time limit to allege and prove it when it affects the parties is three days computed from the moment at which the impediment occurred.