Law Summary
Construction of the Code
- The provisions are to be liberally construed to facilitate speedy justice.
Delegation and Computation of Time
- Deputies may perform duties of ministerial officers.
- Time computation excludes the first day and includes the last, excluding Sundays and holidays if applicable.
Process and Court Rules
- Process issuance requirements including seal, style, signature, and dating.
- Supreme Court judges shall prepare binding uniform rules for courts.
- Stamped paper not required but court rules may prescribe document size and form.
Judicial Integrity and Liability
- Judges and court officers are disqualified in cases of pecuniary interest, familial relation, prior involvement.
- Disqualification processes without formal challenges but with written objections.
- Judges are immune from civil liability when acting within legal jurisdiction and good faith.
Publicity and Incidental Powers
- Court sessions are generally public unless indecent testimony requires exclusion.
- Records are public but may sometimes be restricted in the interest of morality.
- Courts hold extensive powers to enforce orders, maintain order, compel witness attendance, and administer oaths.
Official Language
- Transition from Spanish to English as official court language by 1906.
- Permission for bilingual records and proceedings under certain circumstances.
- Interpretation and translation mandated for non-Spanish oral and written submissions.
Admission and Regulation of Lawyers
- Qualifications: Resident, age 23+, good moral character, legal knowledge.
- Examination requirements and scope, including bar membership and foreign admission.
- Oaths to uphold allegiance to the United States and ethical conduct.
- Maintenance of a roll of lawyers by Supreme Court clerk.
- Grounds and procedures for suspension or disbarment.
- Legal authority and limits of lawyers, including attorney-client privilege.
- Provisions for legal aid to indigent parties.
Prescription and Commencement of Actions
- Actions subject to prescribed periods, mostly governed by this Code.
- Periods range from one to ten years depending on the cause.
- Special provisions for minors, unsound persons, and absentees.
- Relation of limitation periods to accruing of rights and beginning of action.
Procedure in Justice of the Peace Courts
- Specific provisions for summons, complaints, defaults, nonsuits, and trial procedures.
- Assessment system for trials, including selection, duties, and fines for assessors.
- Filing, record-keeping, and execution rules.
- Provisions for appeals to Courts of First Instance with procedural and effect details.
Trial Procedure in Courts of First Instance
- Limited pleadings to complaints, demurrers, and answers.
- Requirements for pleadings include clear, concise statements of claims and defenses.
- Demurrer grounds and procedures.
- Use and scope of counterclaims and cross-complaints.
- Trial processes summarized from opening statements to findings.
- Appointment and functions of referees including their oaths and reports.
- Rules on exceptions and appeals via bills of exceptions.
Parties to Actions
- Requirement of valid parties including real party in interest.
- Rules for multiple parties, minors, persons of unsound mind, and guardians.
- Provisions on joining, interpleading, and intervention to protect parties' rights.
Special Remedies
- Injunctions: preliminary and final, including procedures, bonds, and enforcement.
- Receivers: appointment, powers, and termination.
- Partitions: rules for real estate partition, appointment and duties of commissioners.
- Usurpation of office or franchises: who may sue, whom actions may be brought against, and court powers.
- Certiorari, mandamus, prohibition: definitions, grounds for issuance, procedures, enforcement.
- Contempt: definitions, procedures, penalties, rights to bail.
- Eminent Domain: complaint requirements, appointment of commissioners, valuation, and payment procedures.
- Foreclosure: venue, complaint contents, sale procedures, and proceeds distribution.
- Manual delivery of personal property: affidavits, undertakings, warrants for custody.
Rules of Evidence
- Uniform rules across all courts.
- Judicial recognition of public facts without proof.
- Limitations on hearsay, competency of witnesses, and construction of written instruments.
- Original documents generally required but exceptions enumerated.
- Presumptions: conclusive and disputable.
- Special requirements for certain agreements to be enforceable in writing.
- Provisions on impeachment and cross-examination of witnesses.
Affidavits and Depositions
- Affidavit use with oath administration standards.
- Procedures for taking and using depositions locally, interstate, and foreign.
- Use of depositions for perpetuation of testimony.
Venue of Actions
- Land-related actions must be brought in the location of the property.
- Other action venue options include defendant’s or plaintiff’s residence.
- Rules on defendant absence and service.
Proceedings When Judge is Disqualified
- Parties may agree on special judges.
- If no agreement, Supreme Court designates a substitute.
- Provisions for replacement in case of judge unavailability.
Witnesses
- Rules on qualifications, oral testimony, and cross-examination.
- Specific exclusions based on capacity, relation, and professional confidentiality.
Duties of Clerk of Court
- Record keeping, process issuance, oath administration, and maintenance of dockets.
- Specific requirements for preparation of dockets and final records.
- Management of moneys paid into court.
Process
- Civil actions commenced by filing complaints.
- Requirements and manner of summons issuance and service.
- Provisions for service on absent or unknown defendants.
- Record of service proof.
- Special process rules for actions affecting land title.
Subpoenas and Attendance of Witnesses
- Issuance, service, and enforcement of subpoenas.
- Methods to compel attendance including arrest.
- Special rules for witnesses in custody.
Arrest of Defendant
- Grounds and procedures for arrest in specified cases.
- Requirement of order and bond prior to arrest.
- Defendant's rights to discharge and bail.
Attachment of Defendant's Property
- Grounds and procedures for attachment as security.
- Order issuance, obligation requirements, and property seizure modes.
- Procedures to claim attached property by third parties.
Final Process and Execution
- Execution issuance, form, and return procedures.
- Execution against property or person.
- Sales under execution including notices, conduct, and rights of purchasers.
- Redemption rights and terms.
Proceedings Supplementary to Execution
- Examination of judgment debtor and persons with knowledge of his property.
- Appointment of receivers and orders to prevent property transfer.
Costs
- Costs generally follow the suit’s result but courts may adjust.
- Limits on costs relative to amount recovered.
- Specific cost schedules for various courts and proceedings.
Supreme Court Procedures
- Appellate jurisdiction including affirmation, reversal, modification, or new trials.
- Review limited to questions of law, with exceptions for assessors' dissent and newly discovered evidence.
- Procedure for bills of exceptions and dismissal grounds.
- Effect of dismissals and rules against reversal on technical grounds.
- Original jurisdiction powers for certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, and quo warranto.
- Duties of clerk of Supreme Court.
Special Proceedings
- Judges may act in vacation for special proceedings.
- Continuation and finality provisions for pending bankruptcy proceedings.
Habeas Corpus
- Extension to all cases of illegal confinement.
- Authority of various courts/judges to grant writs.
- Application requirements and exceptions.
- Procedures from issuance to return, commitment, and discharge.
Guardians
- Appointment, duties, bond requirements, and limitations.
- Special provisions for guardians of persons of unsound mind.
- Powers related to administration of ward's estate.
- Procedures for removal, resignation, and termination.
Trusts and Trustees
- Appointment of trustees under wills when omitted.
- Removal, resignation, bonding, and powers of trustees.
- Jurisdictional exclusivity over trust matters.
Estates of Deceased Persons
- Settlement without legal proceedings when all heirs consent and debts are paid.
- Comprehensive probate jurisdiction attributed to Courts of First Instance.
- Jurisdiction rules relating to resident and nonresident estates.
Wills and Executors
- Validity requirements, execution, witnesses, revocation, and custody.
- Procedures for proving and allowing wills.
- Duties of executors and issuance of letters testamentary.
- Properties and interests conveyed.
Claims Against Estates
- Committee appraisals and allowances.
- Notice requirements for creditors.
- Procedures for appealing claims.
- Effects of claims and offsets.
Suits by and Against Executors
- Rights and procedures for prosecuting or defending surviving actions.
- Requirements for citing representatives.
- Management of mortgages and debts involving the estate.
Property Embezzled or Secreted
- Procedures to compel accountable persons to render accounts.
- Liabilities for embezzlement.
Sale of Estate
- Licenses for sale of real or personal estate under specified conditions.
- Procedure for obtaining court orders.
Payment of Debts
- Priority of payment.
- Procedures for payment when insolvent.
- Distributions and court-approved extensions.
Contingent Claims
- Procedure for presentation and allowance.
- Estate’s retention of assets to satisfy contingent claims.
Escheats
- Procedure when intestate person dies without heirs.
- Assignment and management of escheated property.
Distribution of Estate
- Order and manner of distribution.
- Special provisions for shares of omitted or post-will born children.
- Partition and recording of estate.
Adoption and Custody of Minors
- Procedures for adoption, including consents and court orders.
- Custody decisions between separated or divorced parents.
Appeals in Special Proceedings
- Appeals from allowances/disallowances of claims, accounts, wills,