By: Andrés López
On Monday, October 3, Decree 47-2022, which contains reforms to the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure on family trial matters, was published for publication.
The most relevant points are:
1. Family judges may now request genetic tests of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) from the National Institute of Forensic Sciences -INACIF- exonerating the total payment of the fee or tariff, specifically in paternity and filiation trials.
2. Judges have the power to declare in the sentence of paternity and filiation regarding the alimony of a minor and avoid the realization of a subsequent trial on the matter.
3. Provisional legal representation of minors by the Attorney General’s Office is decreed, until a guardian is appointed, to guarantee the rights of the minor, judicially and administratively.
4. All family matters are now to be processed in oral proceedings, including the processes that were previously heard in ordinary proceedings; and this includes all the processes related to family matters, such as contentious, voluntary, knowledge, execution, and precautionary.
5. The extrajudicial mechanisms of mediation and conciliation are promoted to speed up the resolution of the problems of the jurisdiction of the Family Courts.
The decree will enter into force three months after its publication in the Official Gazette.