The Sixteenth Civil Court issues Summoning Edict No. 246 ordering Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez to appear within 20 days in Lisa, S.A.'s accounting proceeding, with warning of absent-defendant attorney appointment.

Procedural Context

The resort to service by edict followed the exhaustion of ordinary notification mechanisms. In July 2023, the court had issued Letters Rogatory 29 to Guatemala for personal service on Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez, a Guatemalan national. In October 2023, the Judiciary's Notification authorized diplomatic dispatch of those letters. In January 2024, Lisa, S.A. filed a Motion requesting information on the Guatemalan authority that had received the letters rogatory, reflecting the lack of response to international service attempts. Having exhausted personal notification, the court turned to service by edict as a subsidiary mechanism.

Content of the Edict

The edict granted Bosch twenty days from the date of the last publication to appear before the court through legal counsel and assert his rights. It expressly warned that failure to appear would result in the appointment of an absent-defendant attorney who would represent him through the remainder of the proceedings, pursuant to Article 1012 of the Judicial Code.

"Se le advierte al emplazado que si no comparece en el término indicado, se le nombrará un DEFENSOR DE AUSENTE con quien se seguirá el proceso en los estrados del Tribunal hasta su terminación" (Page 1)

Legal Basis

• Article 1012 of the Judicial Code — Governs the procedure for appointing an absent-defendant attorney when the defendant fails to appear after service by edict.

Procedural Outcome

Bosch did not appear within the prescribed period. On August 9, 2024, the court issued the Order appointing Licenciado Miguel Ruiz as absent-defendant attorney, with litigation expenses set at $1,500.00. Bosch's failure to appear, despite publication in a nationally circulated newspaper, allowed the proceeding to advance without his direct participation.

Signatories

• Lcda. Carolina Portillo de Gittens, Special Acting Judge
• Lcdo. Kirk Calvera, Court Clerk