Originally from Arbitration Law and Practice in Latin America

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I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN GUATEMALA—HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

In 1995 the Guatemalan national legal framework started facilitating and promoting the development of arbitration as an effective dispute resolution method. Previously and with some particular provisions, the Civil and Commercial Procedural Code of 1934 (“Código de Enjuiciamiento Civil y Mercantil”) essentially repeated the regulations of applicable law, commonly used in other countries at the time. It also regulated the arbitration agreement to be formalized in a public deed with a requirement to contain the full name of the arbitrators, the dispute to be solved, time period to render the award and place of arbitration. In the event that one of the parties did not fulfill its commitment to execute the arbitration agreement, the law established a judicial procedure (“vía ejecutiva”) to enforce the arbitration agreement so that the judge could order the enforcement of the arbitration agreement. The lack of expeditiousness in the judicial procedures to enforce the arbitration agreement, among other factors, resulted in a major setback to the development of arbitration as an effective tool of dispute resolution.

The legislators, became aware of the issues raised by the previous arbitration law and changed the procedure to enforce the arbitration agreement. Along with other reforms, the Civil Procedural Code of 1964 (“Código Procesal Civil y Mercantil”) established a fast-track procedure, to enforce the arbitration agreement.