The Process by Oral Audiences at the Costa Rican Civil Procedural Law Reform: Changing the Paradigm within Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Costa Rica during several decades has been generally undergoing a series of reforms on its procedural regulations. First of all, it initiated reforming the Criminal Procedural Code. Afterwards, the Administrative Litigious Procedure was also reformed. Lately, the Labor Procedural Reform was carried on and it will be valid from 2017 hereinafter. The Civil Procedural Code was also reformed to be valid from October, 2018 hereinafter. In a near future, the Family Procedural Law and the Agrarian Law would be reformed. The last mentioned ones are at the Legislative Agenda. This reform will incorporate many points, but there is an outstanding one: the orality as a methodology to debate a case’s controversial positions. As we said, the Civil Procedural Subject is not out of this reform. The Litigant Lawyers, the Parties, and the Judges must learn to practice Law at the oral audiences. Therefore, the Law Departments and Law Schools must be prepared to train this level of Lawyers and Judges. The present article proposes a rough explanation of what we commented. At the same time, it tries to expose an academic proposal.