Article 873-F Federal Labor Law

The preliminary hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the following:

I.The parties shall appear personally or through an attorney before the Court; if they appear on their own behalf, they must be assisted by a law graduate or a licensed attorney holding a professional license, or a law intern, in order to guarantee their proper defense.

If the parties do not appear in person or through their attorneys, the judicial acts occurring at each stage shall be deemed consented to and the procedural rights that should have been exercised at each of the stages of the hearing shall be precluded. The court shall determine the beginning and the conclusion of each of the stages of the hearing;

II.The preliminary hearing shall be held with the appearance of the parties present at its beginning. Those that have not appeared at its opening may do so at the moment they present themselves, provided that the order closing the hearing has not been issued. If the parties do not appear, the hearing shall be held with the material available in the record;

III.The Court shall examine the questions relating to procedural standing and shall resolve the procedural exceptions that have been raised, in order to purify the proceeding;

IV.The Court shall define the facts that are not subject to controversy so that the evidence admitted is directed to the facts subject to debate;

V.Thereafter, the Court shall resolve the admission of the evidence offered by the parties, shall admit that which relates to the dispute and shall reject the useless, inconsequential or that which bears no relation to the controverted facts, stating the reason therefor; likewise, it shall establish the manner in which the evidence it admits must be prepared for its taking at the trial hearing or that which will be carried out outside the facilities of the Court, when applicable under the terms of this Law. The Court shall set the day and hour for holding the trial hearing, which must take place within the period of twenty days following the issuance of the respective order; if evidence that must be taken outside the facilities of the Court is admitted, it shall indicate the date and hour at which the proceedings will be conducted, providing in relation thereto;

VI.The preparation of the evidence shall be ordered by the Court, except that which remains in charge of the parties, so that the trial hearing shall not be deferred for lack of preparation, except in the case of fortuitous event or force majeure. The summons of the witnesses referred to in article 813 of this Law shall be in charge of the party offering them, unless for justified cause it must be carried out through personal notification, which shall be made at least three days in advance of the hearing, not counting the day on which they receive the summons, nor that of the hearing. The Court, at the request of the offering party, may issue official letters or summonses so that the latter delivers them on its own account and under its responsibility, with the purpose that the evidence be duly prepared and may be taken at the trial hearing;

VII.Only in exceptional cases, when due to the nature of the evidence admitted the Court considers under its strictest responsibility that its taking in a single hearing is not possible, in the same ruling by which it admits them, it shall indicate the days and hours at which they must be taken, even if they do not keep the order in which they were offered, endeavoring that those of the plaintiff be received first and then those of the defendant, and

VIII.If the parties agree with the facts and the controversy is reduced to a point of law, the evidentiary stage shall be declared closed and the record shall be referred for resolution.