In the judicial sphere, the search for a resolution Fast and efficient is one of the pillars of right procedural Modern. Without. embargo, In practice In everyday life, this objective can be affected by strategies used to delay or hinder the progress of a proceedingsThese strategies are known as delaying tactics.

Although they do not always constitute illegal conduct, they can to affect directly the efficiency of work de Justice, violate the right to a trial in a Plazo reasonable and generate unnecessary costs for litigants and courts.

What are delaying tactics?

The delaying tactics These are procedural actions—sometimes legitimate, sometimes abusive—whose objective is delay the advance of proceedings judicialwhether to win tiempo, negotiate in better conditions, wear down the counterpart or manipulate the deadlines of proceedings.

They are present in all areas of right: civil, penal, administrative and even in arbitrationThey are not always easy to identify, because many disguise themselves as derechos legitimate procedural matters.

Why are they used? The most common reasons

Motivations vary depending on the type de litigation and the strategy of lawyer or partBut among the most frequent we find:

• Win tiempo to obtain evidence, reorganize the defense o negotiate.
• To exert economic pressure to counterpart through prolonged costs.
• wait a cultural, legislativo, jurisprudential or administrative that is more favorable.
• force a conciliation under advantageous conditions.
• Avoid a execution immediate or maintain a temporarily beneficial legal status.

Typical examples of delaying tactics

These tactics take different forms, some openly abusive and others more subtle:

1. Resources and improper appeals

Introduce resources baseless part, only to suspend deadlines or postpone the execution of decisions.

2. Repeated requests for tests or extensions

Order unjustified extensions of deadlines, new proceedings, or unnecessary evidence that overwhelms the proceedings.

3. Strategic absences

Failing to attend hearings or appointing witnesses who never appear.

4. Unfounded procedural nullities

Invoking minor defects to try to invalidate perfectly valid actions.

5. Changes in lawyer the last hour

Used to suspend hearings or justify new stages of study of office hour.

6. Promotion of irrelevant incidents

Raising secondary issues that divert attention from the fondo of the litigation.

Are delaying tactics legal?

El use not abusive of the derechos procedural is perfectly legitimateThe problem begins when these actions become obstructive maneuvers.

Procedural rules usually penalize the abuse of right through:

• Imposition of fines.
• Rejection of map of clearly inappropriate actions.
• Liability disciplinary for litigants or lawyers.
• Measures of warning o forced continuation of the proceedings.

El principle de good faith procedural acts as a limit: the derechos procedural rights cannot be exercised for purposes other than obtaining Justice.

Consequences for the work de Justice

Delaying tactics not only affect the counterpartThey also generate broader impacts:

• Court overload.
• Increased legal costs.
• Lost de confidence. citizen in the work.
• Delay in the resolution from other files.
• Risk de prescription o expiration of legitimate actions.

Therefore, its control is part essential to the policies of judicial modernization and efficiency.

How to deal with delaying tactics: recommended strategies

For lawyers and litigators, there are useful tools to mitigate the impact of these maneuvers:

1. Request the sanction for abuse of right procedural

To expressly invoke the bad faith when the conduct is repeated or manifestly obstructive.

2. Order the continuation of the proceedings without waiting for inappropriate actions

For example, opposing unfounded suspensions or ask that decisions be implemented while they are being resolved resources manifestly unfounded.

3. Document all abuses

Register non-appearances, repetitive incidents, or behaviors that demonstrate dilatory patterns.

4. Use modern technological and procedural tools

Pumping and management en storeElectronic notifications, strict deadlines, and concentrated hearings help to neutralize unnecessary delays.

5. To rely on the jurisprudence

The current judicial trend is increasingly less tolerant of delaying tactics, especially in matters penal y familiar where prevails interest top of the victim or of less.