P.R. Laws tit. 4, § 25e
The Court of First Instance shall have seats and courtrooms and shall hold sessions in the following Judiciary Regions: San Juan, Bayamón, Arecibo, Aguadilla, Mayagüez, Ponce, Guayama, Humacao, Caguas, Aibonito, Utuado, Carolina and Fajardo. At the request of the Chief Justice, grounded on the purpose of providing more access to the citizenry and depend on an effective and speedy judiciary system, the Legislature may change the location of such centers.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall have the power to decide which municipalities shall be included in the Judiciary Regions that comprise the divisions of the Court of First Instance. The Court of First Instance shall hold sessions in each municipality in which a seat is established. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may establish municipal seats to hear matters from two (2) or more adjoining municipalities when the establishing a separate seat in each of said municipalities would result in under use of the resources of each one of said courtrooms.
Jurors for the several parts shall be selected from the same municipalities that comprise the corresponding judiciary regions.
In cases involving the termination of parental rights, adoption, and any others arising from §§ 444 et seq. of Title 8, known as the “Comprehensive Child Well-being and Protection Act” shall be heard in a courtroom especially designated to hear such cases.
The Judicial Branch shall designate specialized parts with controlled access to the public in all judicial regions to try domestic violence cases.
Domestic violence cases shall be seen in a part specially designated for such cases in each Judicial Region pursuant to §§ 601 et seq. of Title 8, known as the “Domestic Abuse Prevention and Intervention Act”. This part shall have controlled access to the public to safeguard the identity of the victim and the determination of which persons from the public shall have access to enter the same shall be at the discretion of the Judge presiding the Part.
The Chief Justice shall designate at least one (1) special courtroom to see trials for murder in all judicial regions deemed necessary giving priority to the judicial regions of greater criminal incidence. The corresponding designation shall detail the process to be followed, which entails the referral of the case to the special court, once probable cause to charge has been determined. At the same time, it shall contemplate alternate measures that may be necessary to prevent the backlog of cases in the specialized courtroom.
Said courtrooms shall be presided by judges with special training in the criminal field, who shall be designated exclusively by the Chief Justice. In those regions in which it is decided that a fixed Special Courtroom shall not be established, the Judicial Branch shall establish those rules and internal proceedings that may be necessary to assure that murder cases are seen by a judge with special training in the criminal field.
History —Aug. 22, 2003, No. 201, § 5.005; Dec. 18, 2009, No. 186, § 40, eff. 30 days after Dec. 18, 2009; Mar. 8, 2011, No. 30, § 1; June 17, 2014, No. 67, § 9.