Instruction No. 248 of the Governing Council of the Supreme People's Court

Instruction No. 248 of the Governing Council of the Supreme People's Court issues the temporary suspension of the processing of judicial processes, with the exception of urgent or urgent cases.

MSc. MARÍA BELÉN HERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ, SECRETARY OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL AND THE SUPREME PEOPLE'S COURT

I CERTIFY: That the Governing Council of this court, in an extraordinary session held on the thirty-first day of March in the year two thousand and twenty, approved the Instruction that is as follows:

WHEREAS: As is publicly known, various measures have been implemented by the State and the Government of the Republic to prevent and confront, in the national territory, the risks and effects of the spread of the pandemic called COVID-19, caused due to the spread of the new SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. These measures include several aimed at restricting and limiting the movement and agglomeration of people, and the call to promote social isolation, as a necessary precaution to avoid, as far as possible, the transmission of the dangerous disease.

WHEREAS: It is evident that compliance with the aforementioned measures implies temporary difficulties for the normal performance of the judicial activity, by hindering the attendance at the judicial headquarters of those who must appear before these bodies, for different reasons and, on the other hand, preventing court personnel perform some of the proper due process procedures; situations that have already been presented and determine the need for the Governing Council of the Supreme People's Court, making use of the powers granted to it by Article 148 of the Constitution, to issue provisions regulating the way of proceeding by the courts of justice from the country; as long as the aforementioned situation in the national territory is maintained.

THEREFORE: In use of the faculties conferred on it, in accordance with the provisions of article 19.1 h) of Law No. 82 "On the People's Courts" of July 11, 1997, the Governing Council of the Court Supremo Popular proceeds to dictate the following:

INSTRUCTION No. 248

FIRST: The suspension and immediate temporary detention of the processing and procedural impulse of the judicial matters or processes in progress are provided, taking into account the special situation in which the country finds itself as a result of compliance with the measures implemented by the State and the Government. of the Republic, to prevent and face the risks and effects of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exceptions to the foregoing provision are those matters and procedures that, due to their nature and content, for justified reasons, it is necessary and urgent to continue their care and treatment, ensuring in each case the respect of due process and the rights and guarantees of the parts.

SECOND: If any lawsuit is presented, or exercise of the action, the courts will analyze its content and will rule accordingly as appropriate, in compliance with the provisions of the previous provision.

THIRD: The decision to temporarily suspend the processing of the processes, is valid only for as long as the situation that determined its adoption remains; For such purposes, the provisions of articles 33 and 106 of the Criminal Procedure Law and the Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law, respectively, are taken into account. The resolution issued for this purpose will be duly notified or communicated to the parties in the process.

FOURTH: Once the specific situation that determined the decision has been resolved or exceeded, the court issues a well-founded resolution and orders the resumption of the process in the same state in which it was found when its suspension was decreed, including the computation of the terms and periods established until the date on which the previous one was issued. This resolution will also be duly notified to the parties.

FIFTH: To reduce, as far as possible, the displacement and contacts between the people involved in the processes and procedures that continue its course, whenever possible, the courts can make citations and notifications by phone, email or any other telematic means, leaving due record of this diligence in the proceedings, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 86 of the Criminal Procedure Law, Article 171 of the Law on Civil Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure and Instruction 207 of 2011, of the Governing Council of the Supreme People's Court. When this is the case, it will be verified that the cited or notified has received the communication.

SIXTH: In the face-to-face judicial acts such as appearances, oral trials, and other similar ones, that are carried out in the current circumstances, the courts will adopt all the sanitary and preventive measures that may be appropriate, to avoid possible contagions and transmission of the virus among those who attend said events. acts.

SEVENTH: In order to ensure effective compliance with the provisions of this instruction, the presidents of the provincial and municipal courts carry out, in the corresponding instances, the appropriate coordination with the representatives of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, the National Organization of Collective Law Firms, the National Revolutionary Police, the General Directorate of Penitentiary Establishments and other appropriate institutions and entities.

Communicate this Instruction to the vice presidents and presidents of the Supreme People's Court; to the presidents of the popular provincial courts and the Special People's Court of the Isle of Youth, and through them, to the presidents of the popular municipal courts; To the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba, to the President of the National Board of the National Organization of Collective Law Firms, and to the Organisms of the Central State Administration, for their knowledge and effects, and be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic, for your general knowledge.