Decree No. 644 establishing the transitory provision for the extension of judicial and administrative terms within the framework of the Quarantine Law.

By Legislative Assembly Decree No. 593, dated  March 14, 2020  and subsequent decrees, the suspension of the legal terms and deadlines applicable to administrative and judicial procedures, with the exception of the deadlines applicable to criminal matters and criminal procedures, referring to the terms established by the Constitution for administrative detention (72 hours), the term of inquiring and consequently, the respective judicial hearings, are not affected by the aforementioned decree, that is, they remain in force; their expiration would occur on May 16, 2020.

Bearing in mind that the conditions affecting the COVID 19 pandemic still persist, and based on the provisions of the Law for the Regulation of Isolation, Quarantine, Observation and Surveillance by COVID-19 (the quarantine law), whose validity would end on May 19, warning that if this happens, it would cause a legal gap, which would affect legal security and with it, the rights of both natural and legal persons , public entities or institutions, said suspension must be prorogued or extended for 8 additional days.

Consequently,  by means of Decree No. 644 of May 14, the transitory provision for the extension of judicial and administrative terms is established within the framework of the Quarantine Law indicated above; thus extending the aforementioned suspension for 8 additional days, starting on May 17 of this year, indistinctly of the subject matter and the instance in which the processes or procedures affected by the aforementioned deadlines are. This provision will enter into force, from the day of its publication and its effects will end  on May 24 of this year.

The original Decree will preserve the following conditions (The most relevant quoted below):

All those who are unable to fulfill their obligations since they are directly affected by the measures applied in compliance with this decree will not incur in breaches of contractual obligations or civil and commercial penalties.

Likewise, the terms and hearings of the common criminal jurisdiction and specialized jurisdictions in criminal matters are suspended; as well as the hearings held at administrative level including those scheduled by the Institute for Access to Public Information.  In addition, those related to protection measures in the area of domestic violence;  procedures, deadlines and sanctions provided for in the Consumer Protection Law, and General Drug Law, are also excluded.