Título V. Disposiciones complementarias

In all types of judicial proceedings, the use of abbreviations and numerals is prohibited, except for citations of laws. No erasures shall be made and a thin line that permits reading shall be placed over mistaken words or phrases.

Before the proceedings are signed, deletions and interlineations shall be validated, under sanction of being deemed as not made.

Under no circumstances shall the case files be delivered on trust.

Files that are lost shall be replaced at the expense of the person responsible for the loss, who shall also pay damages, remaining subject to the provisions of the Criminal Code, when the act is punishable.

The replacement of such files shall be processed as an incidental proceeding. The order resolving it shall determine:

a)Whether the replacement is warranted;

b)The proceedings and documents deemed replaced;

c)The procedural stage at which the proceedings are to be continued;

d)The determination of procedural steps taken that could not be replaced, as well as the setting of a time limit not exceeding fifteen days to carry them out, in accordance with the corresponding procedural laws, except that in the case of documents from abroad, the judge may set a longer one.

To remove any document from the archives and protocols, a judicial order is required, which shall not be issued without knowledge of cause and with citation of the parties.

Neither in the Supreme Court of Justice nor in any other collegiate tribunal may relatives simultaneously be judges in the same tribunal, nor hear the same matter in different instances.

The Supreme Court of Justice shall issue the practical norms of general interpretation that are advisable to unify the application of procedural laws. Such norms shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Procedural acts for which the law does not prescribe a specific form shall be carried out by the judges in such a manner as to achieve their purpose.

So that the judicial authorities are recognized in all cases in which their intervention is necessary, and, furthermore, so that the due considerations are afforded to them, they shall use the insignia agreed upon by the Supreme Court of Justice or shall identify themselves with the credential issued by the President of the Judicial Branch.

Preventive cognizance. The President of the Supreme Court of Justice and the magistrates thereof individually have jurisdiction to prevent crimes and apprehend offenders, being able to require the assistance of any public official, employee, agent of authority or private individual and to compel him in case of reluctance, with a fine of twenty-five (Q.25.00) to one hundred (Q.100.00) quetzales, or arrest of fifteen to thirty days of imprisonment.

The tribunals shall render mutual assistance to one another for the performance of all proceedings that may be necessary and may be ordered in the substantiation of judicial matters.

To execute their judgments and to carry out or enforce the decisions they issue, the tribunals may require from the other authorities the assistance of the public force dependent upon them, and the other appropriate means of action at their disposal.

When legally requested, the authority must provide the assistance without being entitled to assess the grounds on which it is

to execute. In any case, the person who requested the assistance of the public force is liable.

The magistrates may entrust to the judges of first instance and the latter to the minor judges the performance of the proceedings set forth in Article 68 when they must be carried out in a place other than that of their respective residence.

The performance of these proceedings may not be entrusted to secretaries nor to any person who does not exercise jurisdiction, except as provided in the Constitutional Law on constitutional relief (amparo), habeas corpus (exhibición personal) and constitutionality.

The files of the actions conducted by the tribunals must not be taken outside the office, and simple photocopies or certifications may be given to those who request them. Concluded proceedings requested for teaching purposes by the Faculties of Juridical and Social Sciences, and such other cases as the laws determine, are excepted from this rule. When partial certifications and photocopies of the files are involved, notification of the opposing party, if any, shall be mandatory, with such party having the right to have the requested certification or photocopy completed at its expense with the excerpts it designates. If the deposit is not made within the time limit of twenty-four hours from the moment of delivery to the tribunal of its request, the copy shall be issued in the terms originally requested.

Under the denomination of certified copy or certification is understood that which is issued by hand, by machine or using any mechanical, electronic or other similar means of reproduction, and whose authenticity is certified by the secretaries of the tribunals. In certified copies or certifications the value of the paper used or of the fiscal stamps and of the fees incurred shall be recorded.

If the secretary of the tribunal is a notary, he may give full attestation to the judicial proceedings of which the tribunal he serves takes cognizance, without requiring the intervention of any other public official, under his responsibility, leaving a record in the case file.

In every certification of decisions issued, it shall be stated whether or not a remedy is pending.

In the case files or proceedings, the clerk shall, under his responsibility, make a notation of the date on which the copy was given, making a succinct account thereof.

When the parties need to remove from the ongoing proceedings the notarial certified copies or documents they have submitted, their return shall be ordered, leaving them certified in the proceedings or upon submission by the applicant of a certified copy or a copy legalized by a notary. Where sole originals, simple legalized or recognized documents, epistolary correspondence, and any others for which identical replacement cannot be obtained are involved, they shall not be returned, except for documents serving as an executive title and credit instruments. In such case, they shall be returned duly annotated upon prior notification to the parties, leaving a certified photocopy in the case file.

The provisions of this chapter are applicable to the certifications issued in any other agency or office of the State, as well as to attestations of acts or facts, or to the existence or non-existence of documents, notations or proceedings in the files.

The coercive measures are: warning, fine or compulsory personal appearance, which shall be applied according to the seriousness of the violation, unless the law provides otherwise.

Coercive measures shall be imposed by the tribunals so that their decisions are obeyed, on persons who have refused to comply with them within the corresponding time limits, with the exception of the warning which shall be imposed from the first decision establishing the mandate of the judge.

Coercive measures are applicable to attorneys, to the representatives of the parties and to the public officials or employees who depend on the tribunal, in the same cases as to the litigants.

The parties may not request compulsion, nor may the judge order it, before expiry of the time limit set for compliance with the judicial order, except with regard to the taking of evidence in which the cooperation of the opposing party is necessary, which shall be required under warning.

Against any order of compulsion the interested party may request reconsideration within the two days following being notified. The decision of the tribunal, which it shall also render within two days, shall be appealable if rendered by a minor judge or judge of first instance. The decision of a collegiate tribunal shall admit reconsideration within the same time limit.

In the case of the coercive measure having been illegally requested and ordered, the judge and the party that requested it shall be jointly and severally obligated to repair the damage and losses caused by the coercive measure.

The coercive measure imposed by the tribunal improperly or without it being of record that its decision has been disobeyed shall be considered as abuse of authority.

Except for special provisions of law, a person who, being at the place, resists appearing before the judge for any judicial proceeding may be brought by the national police. This compulsion shall not apply to proceedings for notifications.

The tribunals have the obligation to impose the fines established in the Law; and if they do not do so, their incumbents shall be liable for the value thereof. The parties have the right to pursue the effectiveness of these sanctions, and the Public Prosecutor's Office must also do so.

In cases not specified by the Law, the fine shall not be less than five (Q.5.00) nor exceed one hundred (Q.100.00) quetzales. Whoever does not pay the fine within the time limit set for them shall incur the crime of disobedience, without prejudice to payment of the fine.

All fines or commutations arising from the administration of justice shall be paid into the Treasury of the Judicial Branch, as they are private funds of this Branch.