Amendment to Act No. 190 (Code of Civil Procedure)

December 8, 1928

ACT NO. 3504

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION TWELVE OF ACT NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY, AS AMENDED BY ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY, AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE, IN ADDITION TO THE ENGLISH, AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN THE COURTS OF JUSTICE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS UNTIL THE YEAR NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY

SECTION 1. Section twelve of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, commonly known as the Code of Procedure in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings, as amended by Act Numbered Twenty-eight hundred and thirty, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 12. Official language of the courts. — Until otherwise provided by the Philippine Legislature, the official language of all courts and their records shall be English: Provided, That until January first, nineteen hundred and forty, Spanish shall be also an official language of the courts and their records; that the Supreme Court and any Court of First Instance, justice of the peace court, municipal court, or other court of similar jurisdiction which may hereafter be established, may order its records to be made in either English or Spanish as it may deem best for the public convenience and the interests of the parties; and that any party or his counsel may examine witnesses and make oral argument in English or Spanish, which shall then and there be interpreted into other language by a court interpreter whenever the other party or his counsel does not understand the language in which the examination or argument is made, and so requests, and may submit any petition, motion, pleading, brief, document, or evidence either in English or Spanish without an accompanying translation into the other language: Provided, however, That in cases in which all the parties or counsel stipulate in writing, or the accused in a criminal action requests, the language used in the record shall be in accordance with such stipulation or request; and that proceedings in justice of the peace courts shall be in the Spanish language unless the justice speaks English and there is an official interpreter or all the parties or their counsel speak English."

SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect on its approval.

Approved, December 8, 1928.