On June 7, 2023, the decree issuing the National Code of Civil and Family Procedures was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, whose objective is greater efficiency in the fulfillment of the human rights to justice, jurisdictional protection effective and legal security contained in the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and in the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.
It imposes the application and development of predominantly oral judicial procedures to accelerate the resolution of the conflicts that the defendants eventually experience and, above all, that the sentence that resolves to repair the rights that have been violated is materialized, in order to improve the rule of law. in the country.
Until before the issuance of said new regulations, each state in the country had its own procedural code, plus the Federal Code of Civil Procedures, which implied the existence of different norms, rules, deadlines, terms and criteria, despite the fact that they were the same procedure, which is why it was decided to standardize the process in civil and family matters.
In the first article of the code in question, it was stated that its provisions are of public order, social interest and general observance throughout the national territory.
It also grants the jurisdictional authority powers to intervene more actively in the civil and family procedure, since, in accordance with the principle of immediacy, there will be direct, personal and non-delegable contact of the judges with the parties and the evidence, supported by a system of delivery of oral justice that also guarantees agility and equity for the resolution of conflicts.
A clear example of this is found in article 295 of the National Code of Civil and Family Procedures, which says:
“The jurisdictional authority has the power to ask the questions that it deems appropriate to the witnesses, as long as they are of a clarifying nature, without incorporating additional information that should be generated by the parties involved and guaranteeing, above all, the principle of equality and immediacy, except in the case of family matters, in which case the jurisdictional authority will be empowered to question the witness without any limitation, in order to obtain the material truth or when it notices violations of human rights.”
The statements of witnesses are of transcendental relevance in some trials, since there are situations in which testimonial evidence is ideal to prove certain facts, such as when it is necessary to know who the person who occupies a property is, for how long they have had possession. , if this is peaceful, continuous and public, or, in cases in which the contract was made verbally before witnesses, if some amount of money was delivered, among other circumstances.
For this reason, the aforementioned legal provision is very important, since by express dictate of the law, judges throughout the country already have the power to question witnesses offered by the parties regarding the facts that are the subject of the controversy, in order to that are absolutely clear.
Furthermore, the judges will be able to notice the truthfulness with which the witnesses conduct themselves by observing the behavior, gestures, fluidity, security and congruence with which they give testimony, which will allow them to issue a final legal sentence that meets the expectations of the defendants.