Fifth Court of Appeals affirms dismissal of Alimentos para Animales' abuse-of-right claim against Lisa
Jun 22 2023
Court of Appeals
The Fifth Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals denied the appeal filed by Alimentos para Animales, S.A. and affirmed in full the April 5, 2023 judgment of the Fifteenth Multi-Judge First Instance Civil Court of the Department of Guatemala, which dismissed the summary abuse-of-right and damages claim brought against Lisa, S.A. The decision rests on a dispositive finding: the criminal complaint that Alimentos para Animales identified as the abusive act was never directed against it.
Alimentos para Animales, S.A., an entity within the Avícola Villalobos Group, filed a summary civil action for abuse of right and damages against Lisa, S.A., alleging that Lisa committed abuse of right by filing a criminal complaint (querella penal) on February 2, 2018, before the Seventh Criminal Court of First Instance of the Department of Guatemala (Expediente 01079-2018-00056). That criminal complaint was dismissed at a hearing on August 3, 2018.
The first-instance court upheld Lisa's peremptory exceptions (lack of the elements required for abuse of right, lack of standing of the plaintiff, and lack of standing of the defendant), rejected Lisa's prescription exception, dismissed the claim, and ordered Alimentos para Animales to pay costs.
The appellant, through its authorized representative Elias José Arriaza Sáenz, raised three grievances: (A) that the trial court failed to properly evaluate the documentary evidence consisting of the criminal complaint and its subsequent dismissal, and that Lisa did commit abuse of right; (B) that because Alimentos para Animales belongs to the Avícola Villalobos Group, the constant references to the Group established its standing to sue; and (C) that for the same reason, the exception of lack of standing of the defendant should also be overturned.
The court examined the content of the criminal complaint filed by Lisa on February 2, 2018 and established a dispositive fact: the complaint was brought against various legal entities and natural persons, but Alimentos para Animales, S.A. was not among them. Because the criminal action was not directed against the plaintiff, the material link necessary to establish abuse of right was absent.
On the evidentiary valuation grievance, the court noted that the power to assess documentary evidence belongs to the trial judge, and that having granted probative value to the documents did not mean their content was useful for proving the plaintiff's claims. The content of the assessed documents supported precisely the opposite conclusion: that Lisa did not exercise any criminal action against Alimentos para Animales.
The court declared the standing-related grievances nonexistent on the same basis: because Alimentos para Animales was not a target of the criminal complaint, it lacked the material relationship necessary to sustain the claim.
This proceeding reflects the Avícola Villalobos Group's pattern of litigation against Lisa, S.A. A Group entity brought an abuse-of-right claim against Lisa for the legitimate exercise of its right to file a criminal complaint, seeking damages arising from a complaint that was not even directed against the plaintiff. The claim was rejected at first instance, on appeal, and subsequently in cassation, leaving Lisa absolved at every level and the plaintiff ordered to pay costs.
Alimentos para Animales, S.A. filed a cassation appeal against this judgment. The Supreme Court dismissed the cassation, as recorded in the ruling of March 18, 2025, leaving the dismissal of the claim final.