PUERTO RICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Dianette Rivera-Melendez, Oreste Ramos, Maria Trelles-Hernandez and Rosangela Sanfilippo, Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez LLC
Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez LLC Popular Center 19th Floor 208 Ponce de León Ave. San Juan, PR 00918 Puerto Rico
Tel: +1 787 274 1212 Fax: +1 787 274 1470 Email: info@pmalaw.com Web: www.pmalaw.com
1. Legal System and Regulatory Framework 1.1 Legal System
affected Puerto Rico’s public finances since 2007, the US Congress enacted the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), which established a financial oversight and manage - ment board with broad powers over the government’s budgeting and finances. Puerto Rico’s Judicial Structure Puerto Rico has a dual legal system, with federal and local components. While the local federal courts han - dle federal matters, Puerto Rico also has its own local courts that address issues of purely local concern, such as family law, probate and certain criminal mat - ters under local statutes. Puerto Rican state courts have jurisdiction over ques - tions of Puerto Rican state and federal law, except for certain subjects that are under exclusive federal jurisdiction, such as bankruptcy law, federal antitrust, admiralty, customs and federal criminal law. Federal courts have jurisdiction over questions of federal law and only limited jurisdiction over questions of Puerto Rican local law. The Puerto Rican local court system follows the same hierarchical structure as the federal courts, with a Supreme Court as the highest court, a Court of Appeals as an intermediary court and the trial courts (also known as the District Court at the federal level and as the Court of First Instance at the local level). With respect to federal courts, Puerto Rico falls under the jurisdiction of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and has its own US District Court, known as the US District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
As a territory of the USA and due to its Spanish colo - nial past, Puerto Rico is a mixed legal jurisdiction where both civil law and common law coexist. The government of Puerto Rico is a republican form of government with independent executive, legislative and judicial branches. The laws of Puerto Rico derive from different sources depending on the subject in question but, broadly speaking, private law derives from Spanish civil law and is mostly codified, while public law derives from Anglo-American common law. Nonetheless, the US Constitution is the supreme law of the land, followed by applicable federal laws and federal agency rules. Further down the legal hierarchy lies the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, followed by its state statutory laws and local regulatory rules. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the supreme law of the territory, establishing the structure of the government, defining the rights and duties of its citizens, and serving as the foundation for the legal system. The USA retains control of foreign affairs, defence and immigration and, generally speak - ing, US laws apply in Puerto Rico unless Puerto Rico is specifically excluded. In general terms, the government of the Common - wealth of Puerto Rico exercises virtually the same control over its internal affairs as do the 50 US states. As a result of the fiscal and economic crisis that has
490 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook