Guatemala - National Report - World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition
Lic. Luis Fernando Bermejo Quiñónez has been a Partner of Bermejo & Bermejo since 2013 and is the head of the firm’s litigation and arbitration group. Luis has represented clients in domestic and international arbitrations under institutional and ad hoc rules and in international
commercial. Luis has lectured on International Arbitration at the Universidad del Istmo, Guatemala and International Investment Law at the Universidad
Francisco Marroquín. He received his law degree from Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala and his Master’s degree from Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, where he specialized in International Investment Law.
Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition
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GUATEMALA
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”)