Procedures
Written Código de Procedimiento Civil with constitutional amparo
Ordinary civil litigation follows the 1987 Código de Procedimiento Civil, a written procedure with ordinary and summary tracks. Constitutional amparo under the Ley Orgánica de Amparo provides expedited protection. Labour and child-protection procedure were separately reformed to oral hearings, leaving general civil process the least modernised.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National procedural codes applied by the ordinary courts
- Deadline — Answer in ordinary proceedings: 20 days from service
- Deadline — Appeal: five days from the judgment
- Deadline — Amparo: six months from the challenged act
Governing law
- Código de Procedimiento Civil1987
- Ley Orgánica de Amparo sobre Derechos y Garantías Constitucionales
- Ley Orgánica Procesal del Trabajo
In practice
As in several neighbouring systems, specialised jurisdictions moved to oral procedure — the Ley Orgánica Procesal del Trabajo of 2002 is genuinely oral and concentrated — while the general civil code of 1987 remains written and slower. Practical access to civil justice is further constrained by resourcing problems and reported delays well beyond the code's nominal timetables.