El nuevo procedimiento especial de derecho de familia para pretensiones con origen directo en la crisis sanitaria del COVID-19

Resumen

Royal Decree-Law 16/2020, of 28 April, on procedural and organisational measures to deal with COVID-19 in the area of the Administration of Justice, has created a new special, summary and temporary procedure, through which a rapid response can be given to the claims envisaged in family proceedings with a direct origin in the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Its scope of application —both temporal and material— is analysed, as well as the procedure to be followed, inspired by the traditional oral proceedings with oral answering. The summary nature it is granted is surprising, with the consequence that the judgement does not have the effect of res judicata (double jeopardy). The regulation contains important omissions such as the lack of provision on how to act on a request for legal aid or the possibility of filing counterclaims at the hearing without having been announced. These circumstances clash with the intended quick and agile processing