Procedures
Código Procesal Civil of 2013 moved to oral hearings
Ley 439, the Código Procesal Civil, replaced the 1976 code and introduced oral, concentrated procedure with preliminary and trial hearings. Conciliation is a compulsory stage. Constitutional actions — amparo, acción de libertad, acción popular and acción de cumplimiento — are governed by the Constitution and the Constitutional Tribunal's procedural code.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National procedural code applied by the ordinary courts
- Deadline — Answer to an ordinary claim: 30 days
- Deadline — Appeal: 10 days from notification of the judgment
- Deadline — Amparo: six months from the act complained of
Governing law
- Ley 439 - Código Procesal Civil2013
- Ley 027 - Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional
- Ley 708 - Conciliación y Arbitraje
In practice
Compulsory conciliation under Ley 439 takes place before the judge as an intraprocessual stage rather than a pre-filing requirement, which distinguishes it from the Colombian and Peruvian models. Constitutional actions are heard first by departmental guarantee courts and then reviewed by the Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional, so review is automatic rather than discretionary.