In proceedings upon preliminary exceptions the evidence of witnesses shall not be admitted.

ART. 673. Upon the termination of the period for the admission of evidence, the court shall immediately set a day for the hearing, at which the counsel of the parties may make any statements they may deem proper, should the latter so request.

ART. 674. Upon the day following the hearing, the court shall render a decision upon the questions submitted.

If one of them should be a declinatory plea, the court shall decide the same before the others.

When it considers it proper, it shall order the record sent to the court or judge considered competent, and shall abstain from passing upon the other questions.

ART. 675. If any of the exceptions included under numbers 2, 3, and 4 of article 666 is sustained, an absolute dismissal of proceedings shall be had, and an order shall issue for the release of the person or persons accused, not be imprisoned for another cause.

ART. 676. If the court should not consider the declinatory plea sufficiently justified, it shall overrule the same, confirming its jurisdiction to take cognizance of the crime.

Should the court not consider any other plea well taken, it shall simply overrule the same and order the cause continued, according to the stage of the proceedings.

An appeal for annullment of judgment lies from a decision upon a declinatory plea and from one sustaining the second, third, and fourth exceptions of article 666. There shall be no remedy whatsoever against a decision overruling the last-named exceptions, without prejudice to the provisions of article 678.

ART. 677. If the court should consider an exception based upon a lack of authority to institute proceedings to be well taken, it shall order this defect cured at once, the cause being suspended in the meantime, which shall be continued according to its status as soon as the authority is granted.

If said authority should be denied upon the request therefor, all the proceedings had shall be void and an absolute dismissal of the cause shall be entered.

There shall be no remedy whatsoever against a decision upon this exception, and the provisions of the second paragraph of the foregoing article shall be observed.

ART. 678. The parties may again plead at the oral trial as a means of defense such preliminary exceptions as may have been overruled, excepting declinatory pleas.

ART. 679. If the exceptions pleaded should be overruled, the cause shall again be referred for a period of three days to the party pleading the same for the purposes mentioned in article 649.

TITULO III.

DE LA CELEBRACIÓN DEL JUICIO ORAL.

CAPÍTULO PRIMERO.

DE LA PUBLICIDAD DE LOS DEBATES.

ART. 680. Los debates del juicio oral serán públicos, bajo pena de nulidad.

Podrá, no obstante, el presidente mandar que las sesiones se celebren á puerta cerrada cuando así lo exijan razones de moralidad ó de orden público, ó el respeto debido á la persona ofendida por el delito ó á su familia.

Para adoptar esta resolución el presidente, ya de oficio, ya á petición de los acusadores, consultará al tribunal, el cual deliberará en secreto, consignando su acuerdo en auto motivado, contra el que no se dará recurso alguno.

ART. 681. Después de la lectura de esta decisión, todos los concurrentes despejarán el local.

Se exceptúan las personas lesionadas por el delito; los procesados, el acusador privado, el actor civil y los respectivos defensores.

ART. 682. El secreto de los debates podrá ser acordado antes de comenzar el juicio ó en cualquier estado del mismo.

CAPÍTULO II.

DE LAS FACULTADES DEL PRESIDENTE DEL TRIBUNAL.

ART. 683. El presidente dirigirá los debates cuidando de impedir las discusiones impertinentes y que no conduzcan al esclarecimiento de la verdad, sin coartar por esto á los defensores la libertad necesaria para la defensa.

ART. 684. El presidente tendrá todas las facultades necesarias para conservar ó restablecer el orden en las sesiones y mantener el respeto debido al tribunal y á los demás poderes públicos, pudiendo corregir en el acto, con multa de 62.50 á 625 pesetas, las infracciones que no constituyan delito, ó que no tengan señalada en la ley una corrección especial.

El presidente llamará al orden á todas las personas que lo alteren y podrá hacerlas salir del local, si lo considerare oportuno, sin perjuicio de la multa á que se refiere el artículo anterior.

TITLE III.

HOLDING OF THE ORAL TRIAL.

CHAPTER FIRST.

PUBLICITY OF THE ARGUMENTS.

ART. 680. The arguments at the oral trial shall be public, under pain of nullity.

Nevertheless, the presiding judge may order that the proceedings be held behind closed doors when necessary for reasons of morality or public order, or the respect due to the person offended by the crime or to his family.

To promulgate such an order, the presiding judge, either at his own instance or on motion of the accusers, shall consult the court, which shall deliberate in secret, rendering its decision setting forth its reasons, against which there shall be no remedy.

ART. 681. After the reading of this decision all persons present shall leave the court room.

The persons injured by the crime, the accused, the private accuser, the civil plaintiff, and the respective counsel are excepted.

ART. 682. The secrecy of the debates may be ordered before the beginning of the trial or at any stage thereof.

CHAPTER II.

POWERS OF THE PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE COURT.

ART. 683. The presiding judge shall direct the debates, seeking to prevent impertinent discussions and those not tending to the establishment of the truth, without curtailing thereby the liberty necessary for counsel to conduct the defense.

ART. 684. The presiding judge shall have all the powers necessary to preserve or reestablish order at the proceedings, and maintain the respect due the court and other public authorities, being permitted to correct at once, by the imposition of a fine of not less than 62.50 nor more than 625 pesetas, violations which do not constitute a crime or to which a correctional penalty is not affixed by law.

The presiding judge shall call all persons to order who disturb it, and may oblige them to leave the court room should he consider it proper, without prejudice to the fine referred to in the preceding article.

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Podrá también acordar que se detenga en el acto á cualquiera que delinquiere durante la sesión, poniéndole á disposición del juzgado competente.

Todos los concurrentes al juicio oral, cualquiera que sea la clase á que pertenezcan, sin excluir á los militares, quedan sometidos á la jurisdicción disciplinaria del presidente. Si turbaren el orden con un acto que constituya delito, serán expulsados del local y entregados á la autoridad competente.

ART. 685. Toda persona interrogada ó que dirija la palabra al tribunal, deberá hablar de pie.

Se exceptúan el ministerio fiscal, los defensores de las partes y las personas á quienes el presidente dispense de esta obligación por razones especiales.

ART. 686. Se prohiben las muestras de aprobación ó de desaprobación.

ART. 687. Cuando el acusado altere el orden con una conducta inconveniente, y persista en ella á pesar de las advertencias del presidente y del apercibimiento de hacerle abandonar el local, el tribunal podrá decidir que sea expulsado por cierto tiempo ó por toda la duración de las sesiones, continuando éstas en su ausencia.

CAPÍTULO III.

DEL MODO DE PRACTICAR LAS PRUEBAS DURANTE EL JUICIO ORAL.1 SECCIÓN PRIMERA.—De la confesión de los procesados y personas civilmente responsables. ART. 688. En el día señalado para dar principio á las sesiones se colocarán en el local del tribunal las piezas de convicción que se hubieren recogido, y el presidente, en el momento oportuno, declarará abierta la sesión.

1 ¿Podrá el ponente, con la venia del presidente, dirigir preguntas á los procesados, testigos ó peritos en el juicio oral?

"No se halla este caso previsto en la ley, pero considera el infrascrito que no hay inconveniente en resolverlo en sentido afirmativo, aunque entendiéndose siempre que á dichas preguntas no se oponga la presidencia, que es la única autorizada para dirigir la discusión y las pruebas, y la que en cada caso podrá libremente conceder ó negar el uso de esa facultad." (Memoria de la fiscalía del Tribunal Supremo de 15 de Septiembre de 1883, número 48.)

Cuando un procesado manifiesta su conformidad con las conclusiones y solicitud de la acusación, hay un allanamiento á la demanda y no se debe recurrir á pruebas, ni empeñar debates, ni aun continuar el juicio.

Mas siempre que esto no suceda, es indeclinable la obligación de los contendientes de ofrecer y practicar todas las pruebas que sean pertinentes en el juicio, tanto, que si el tribunal observara algún vacío en este punto, podría y aun debería hacer uso del derecho que para este caso le concede el artículo 729. (Memoria citada de 15 de Septiembre de 1883, número 52.)

Según tiene resuelto el Tribunal Supremo, la declaración del procesado es uno de los medios de prueba que permite la ley de enjuiciamiento criminal; y habiendo

He may also order that any person be arrested at once who shall commit an offense during the session, holding such person subject to the orders of the competent court.

All persons present at the oral trial, whatever be the class to which they belong, without excluding the military, are subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the presiding judge. Should they disturb order by an act constituting a crime, they shall be expelled from the court room and turned over to the proper authority.

ART. 685. Every person questioned or addressing the court must rise when doing so.

The prosecuting officials, the counsel of the parties, and the persons whom the presiding judge may exempt from this obligation for special reasons are excepted.

ART. 686. Demonstrations of approval or of disapproval are prohibited.

ART. 687. If the accused shall disturb order by improper conduct, and shall persist therein, notwithstanding the warnings of the presiding judge and the admonition of being removed from the court, the court may decide upon his expulsion for a certain period or during the entire proceedings, which shall continue during his absence.

CHAPTER III.

MANNER OF TAKING EVIDENCE AT THE ORAL TRIAL.1

SECTION FIRST.-Confession of the persons accused and persons civilly liable.

ART. 688. Upon the day fixed for the beginning of the sittings the exhibits collected shall be brought to the court room, and the presid ing judge at the proper moment shall declare the court in session.

1 May the Ponente, with the consent of the presiding judge, address questions to the accused, the witnesses, or the experts at an oral trial?

"This case has not been provided for by law, but the undersigned is of opinion that there is no obstacle to a decision in an affirmative sense, provided that the presiding judge does not object to said questions, he being the only one authorized to direct the discussion and the evidence, and who may without restriction grant or refuse this privilege in any case." (Report of the fiscal of the Supreme Court of September 15, 1883, number 48.)

When an accused person states his agreement with the conclusions and the request of the accusation, there is a settlement of the complaint, and evidence should not be taken, or arguments made, or the action continued.

But when this does not occur the obligation of the contending parties to offer and receive all evidence which may be pertinent in the trial is unavoidable to such an extent that if the court should observe any dereliction on this point it could and even should avail itself of the right which article 729 grants it in such case. (Report of the fiscal of September 15, 1883, number 52.)

As the Supreme Court has decided, the declaration of the accused is one of the means of proof which the law of criminal procedure allows; and if this pertinent