The Chamber of Deputies of Santa Fe unanimously approved a bill that modifies the Organic Law of the Judiciary of the province and the Civil and Commercial Procedure Code. The initiative, promoted by the provincial Executive, seeks to speed up response times in civil jurisdiction through changes in the judicial structure.
The main changes that are implemented are:
Transformation of Family and Extracontractual Liability courts into single-person courts: Currently, these courts are made up of three people, which can generate delays in decision-making. With the new law, decisions will be made by a single judge, which should speed up the processes.
Creation of new courts: In the city of Santa Fe, six new Family courts and four new Extracontractual Liability courts will be created. This will allow for expanding the number of cases that can be processed and reducing waiting times for defendants.
Conversion of Circuit courts into District courts: In the departments of La Capital and Rosario, the Civil and Commercial Circuit courts will become District courts. This will make it possible to equate the workload between the different types of courts and avoid the collapse of the District Courts.
Creation of new rooms in the appeals chambers: New rooms will be created in the civil and commercial appeals chambers to speed up the resolution of appeals.
Creation of a bicameral commission: A bicameral commission will be created that will be in charge of monitoring compliance with the law and preparing a proposal to implement a judicial restructuring throughout the province.
It is expected that these measures will contribute to improving the efficiency of the Santa Fe judicial system and reducing response times in civil jurisdiction.
The changes will take effect 180 days after publication.
What impact will these changes have on the provincial capital?
In the city of Santa Fe, the creation of new Family and Tort Liability courts should significantly reduce waiting times for hearings. Currently, in Family courts the wait is up to a year for a hearing, while in Non-contractual Liability courts the wait can be up to six months. With the new law, waiting times are expected to be reduced to three months in Family courts and two months in Non-contractual Liability courts.
The conversion of Circuit courts into District courts should also have a positive impact on the provincial capital. Currently, the majority of cases that are initiated in the Circuit courts end up being referred to the District courts because the amount claimed in the lawsuit exceeds what corresponds to the Circuit courts. This generates a collapse in the District courts and a delay in the resolution of the cases. With the new law, it is expected that cases will be resolved more quickly in the District courts, since there will be more courts to hear them.
In general, it is expected that the changes approved by the Chamber of Deputies will contribute to improving the efficiency of the Santa Fe judicial system and reducing response times in civil jurisdiction.
