Términos y Plazos / Terms and Delays (DCH)
 

No. 2025-03

English Abstract: 

The paper analyses the concepts of "terms and delays" that emerge from dilatio, a procedural instrument that was first used in Roman law and later passed into procedural canon law and common law. Delays, which are the periods of time set for the actions of the parties in a legal process, gradually took shape in such a way that they became key elements in determining each of its phases. The article examines the different types of delays established by procedural law and their application in Spanish America and the Philippines between the 16th and 18th centuries. In these territories, geographical distances required certain adaptations, such as granting longer time limits and even differentiated methods of time calculation. When computing time limits, it is important to take into account holidays, on which certain judicial acts were prohibited. The determination of these days in Spanish America and the Philippines also had its own particularities, influenced by differences among Spaniards, Indigenous peoples, and mestizos.