Attorneys and Investigators in Guatemala

 

Guatemala City, Guatemala Lawyers

Guatemala City and other cities in Guatemala have legal systems totally different from the United States and Europe.  Although the criminal justice legal system is becoming more like the United States in terms of actual hearings or "audiencias" (accusatorial case) where the prosecutor and defense attorney argue cases before the judge, in many courts they still use the "iquisitorial" system of criminal law whereby the judge simple reviews documents filed with the court by both sides and then arrives at a decision based on the pleadings.  With minor exceptions there is no right to a jury trial in criminal cases in Guatemala.

Guatemala still uses a form of the "napoleonic code" when dealing with civil cases including disputes between businesses, property owners, injury cases and other civil cases.  These types of cases can last for extended periods of time since the judge has to review all of the documentation outside the presence of the attorneys before he makes a final decision.  The court system has very heavy dockets causing delays of months or even up years in some complicated cases.  There is no right to a jury trial in civil cases in Guatemala as there is in the United States in all the states even though some states differ from others in that regard depending on the value of the case.

The family law courts in Guatemala are similar to those in the United States where the judge decides the merits of a case including matters such as child support, custody and divorce. 

Guatemala is a small country with a small population located in Central America.  The native language is Spanish and it is different in many ways from the United States and Europe.  It is a typical former Spanish colony that gained it's independence but still uses legal systems presented in the country by the Spanish hundreds of years before.  Therefore many of the criminal and civil law codes are very similar in the Latin America.

The Latin America Law Group has become an integral part of Latin America  representing legal and investigative cases for clients together with our associate vetted "of Counsel" attorneys in the various countries in Central/South America as well as the Caribbean.  Our goal as a law firm is to represent our clients in a zealous manner defending their rights whether it involves a business litigation, criminal defense, personal injury, family law or property rights dispute. Our belief at the firm is that we must seek the best result possible when representing our clients.  We do not except all cases because our goal is to represent each and every client providing them with updated information and dedicating the time necessary in every case so that our clients will be satisfied with the results in every matter.  We strive to obtain the trust of our clients which should be the goal of every attorney in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.