EL PAPEL Y LOS PODERES DEL JUEZ EN EL PROCESO CIVIL

Abstract

principles, incorporating between these the determinants of the position and role of the court and of the parties. After the necessary initiation of the procedure by the party requiring judicial protection, the roles of the parties and the judge may be set in diff erent ways, without aff ecting the legal subjects’ power of disposition. Possible options do not necessarily follow political or ideological assumptions, which does not mean you cannot have, or there have not been, ideologically inspired legal provisions.
Th e role of the judge, in conjunction with that of the parties, depends on many factors, among which is the question of whether a society is accustomed to resorting to lawyers for only very few issues or whether they are, on the contrary, normally involved in most cases. To these must be added other complementary factors, such as the fact that nations are not all equal in legal culture, or the greater or lesser social value, in diff erent countries, given to arbitration and to alternatives to judicial procedure for less contentious issues. Th erefore, the solution adopted is subject to time and place.
What a sincere search for truth demands in all procedures, and particularly in civil proceedings, is a serious method by which the judge is able to judge the relevant facts, so as to pass sentence. And by “serious approach” we mean a set of rules that rationally allow the relevant facts of the case to be considered true or not in terms of the proceedings. In civil proceedings, except in cases involving any general or public interest, it is prudent and reasonable that the parties play the leading role in the eff ort to plead and prove, given that it is their legal assets that are in question, and it is unrealistic and unwise to burden the courts with a greater responsibility than that of directing the process well and making a reasoned and fair decision.