The Thirteenth First Instance Civil Court granted Lisa's revocation motion and rejected the ordinary extinctive prescription complaint by Sistemas y Equipos, S.A. for improper procedural route.

Case Background

Sistemas y Equipos, S.A. filed an ordinary lawsuit for extinctive, negative, or liberatory prescription against Lisa, S.A. The court admitted the complaint on February 24, 2017. Lisa filed a revocation motion within the twenty-four-hour period prescribed by Article 598 of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure.

Lisa's Arguments

Lisa argued that the ordinary procedural route was improper on two concurrent grounds. First, both parties are commercial entities, and Article 1039 of Guatemala's Commercial Code provides that all actions arising from the Code must proceed through summary proceedings, unless the parties have agreed to arbitration. Second, Clause Twenty-Five of the company's articles of incorporation (public deed number eighty, dated July 7, 1972, authorized by Notary Mario Roberto Morales Franco) stipulates that disputes between the company and its shareholders shall be resolved through summary proceedings before ordinary courts, unless the parties agree to arbitration. Lisa contended that the dispute concerns dividends the company has failed to pay since 1999, a matter that cannot be litigated through ordinary proceedings under the pretext of an extinctive prescription action.

Court's Analysis

The judge verified that both Sistemas y Equipos and Lisa are commercial companies whose formation, rights, and obligations are governed by the Commercial Code. She cited Article 1039, which mandates summary proceedings for all commercial actions, and confirmed that Clause Twenty-Five of the articles of incorporation reinforces this rule by expressly requiring summary proceedings for disputes between the company and its shareholders. The court concluded that the plaintiff's claims do not constitute procedural prerequisites that the applicable special statute allows to be adjudicated through ordinary proceedings, and that the revocation motion was therefore well-founded.

"Las declaraciones pretendidas no constituyen presupuestos procesales que la norma especial citada estipule, para tramitarlo en la presente vía, puesto que como se dijo con antelación las partes procesales son comerciantes sociales y de conformidad con la ley y lo acordando entre éstas, sus diferencias serán resueltas en la vía sumaria" (Page 3)

Ruling

• The revocation motion filed by Lisa, S.A., through its Special Judicial Agent with Representation, Tito Enoc Marroquín Cabrera, was granted
• The February 24, 2017 order admitting the ordinary complaint was revoked
• The complaint and supporting documents filed by Sistemas y Equipos, S.A. were rejected for filing, as the ordinary procedural route is not the proper one between commercial entities

Legal Basis

• Article 1039 of Guatemala's Commercial Code — provides that all actions arising from the Commercial Code shall proceed through summary proceedings, unless the parties have agreed to arbitration
• Articles 598 and 599 of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure — govern the admissibility and procedure for revocation motions against procedural decrees
• Clause Twenty-Five of the articles of incorporation (public deed No. 80, July 7, 1972) — stipulates that disputes between the company and its shareholders shall be resolved through summary proceedings

Signatories

• Licda. Liliana Marlem Joaquin Castillo, Judge
• Licda. Nora Noemí López Lemus, Clerk