be any, and counsel for the convict shall be allowed to appear and shall be heard, or one shall be appointed ex officio for this case, should he not have any; it shall order the fullest and most formal investigation of the acts and the physical and moral condition of the patients by the same legal means of proof which would have been employed if the incident had occurred during the course of the cause, the judge of examination of the district in which the confined persons may be being commissioned for the purpose.

ART. 994. After the incident referred to in the foregoing articles has been heard in a contradictory action, if there be opposition, and in the ordinary form if there be none, and after hearing the sworn statements of the experts in the art of curing, and, in a proper case, of the Academy of Medicine and Surgery, the proper decision shall be rendered. The decision shall be communicated to the head of the penitentiary who, if the insanity shall have been declared, shall transfer the insane criminal to the proper institution, all without prejudice to complying with the provisions of the penal code if at any time the lunatic shall recover his reason.

ART. 995. If the penalty imposed be that of civil interdiction, the judge or court shall take care that the following rules upon the civil effect of the interdiction be observed:

1. If the person punished by the civil interdiction should be single and emancipated, he shall be assigned, according to his age, an exemplary or ordinary curator, in order that he may administer his property and apply the proceeds thereof in so far as necessary to meet his obligations.

2. The same shall be observed if the person punished be married and is separated from his spouse by a decree of divorce.

3. The appointment of curator in the cases referred to in the two preceding rules shall be made subject to the provisions of the law of civil procedure.

4. If the convict should be married and not separated from his wife by a decree of divorce, the latter shall take charge of the administration of the property of the conjugal partnership.

If the wife of the convict should be under legal age, she shall be assigned a curator, preference being given for this charge successively to the father, mother, grand parents, brothers, and sisters and nearest relatives of the minor.

5. The property of the convict belonging to the class included in Art. 201 of the law of civil procedure cannot be alienated, mortgaged, pledged, nor incumbered, except in the manner and with the formalities prescribed in articles 2011 et seq. of the said law.1

1See articles referred to in Appendix III.

6. Lo dispuesto en la regla anterior se observará también respecto de los bienes de la misma clase de la mujer del penado que fuere menor de edad.

7. La esposa que fuere mayor de edad podrá disponer libremente de los bienes de cualquiera clase que le pertenezcan.

8. Los hijos del penado menores de edad estarán sometidos al poder de su madre, y si no la tuvieren, á la autoridad del tutor ó curador, que será el mismo que fuere nombrado para el padre.

9. El penado que estuviere desempeñando el cargo de tutor ó curador cesará en sus funciones y se proveerá de nuevo guardador al menor incapacitado.

10. Cesará también el penado en la administración de bienes ajenos que tuviere á su cargo por cualquier otro concepto.

Cuidará asimismo el juez ó tribunal de que se inscriba la prohibición de disponer de los bienes en los registros de la propiedad de los partidos en que el penado los tuviere.

ART. 996. Las tercerías de dominio ó de mejor derecho que puedan deducirse, se sustanciarán y decidirán con sujeción á las disposiciones establecidas en la ley de enjuiciamiento civil.'

ART. 997. El juez de instrucción á quien se hubiere cometido la práctica de algunas diligencias para la ejecución de la sentencia, dará inmediatamente cuenta del cumplimiento de las mismas al tribunal sentenciador, con testimonio en relación de las practicadas al intento, el cual se unirá á la causa.

ART. 998. Las referidas diligencias se archivarán por el secretario del juez que en ellas haya intervenido.

DISPOSICIÓN FINAL.

Quedan derogadas todos las leyes, reales decretos, reglamentos, órdenes y fueros anteriores en cuanto contengan reglas de enjuiciamiento criminal para los jueces y tribunales del fuero común.

1La ley de enjuiciamiento civil vigente en Cuba y Puerto Rico dedica á las tercerías los artículos 1530 á 1541 (véase el Apéndice III).

6. The provisions of the foregoing rule shall also be observed with regard to the property of the same character of the wife of a convict under legal age.

7. A wife of legal age may freely dispose of the property of any kind belonging to her.

8. The minor children of the convict shall be subject to the power of their mother, and should they not have any, to the authority of the tutor or curator, who shall be the same who was appointed for the father. 9. A convict who shall have been discharging the duties of a tutor or curator shall discontinue his functions, and the incapacitated minor shall be assigned a new guardian.

10. A convict shall also discontinue the administration of the property of another which he may have under his charge for any other

reason.

The judge or court shall take care that the prohibition to dispose of the property be recorded in the registries of property of the districts in which the convict may possess them.

ART. 996. Interventions of ownership or of a better right which may be interposed shall be heard and determined in accordance with the provisions prescribed in the law of civil procedure.1

ART. 997. The judge of examination to whom the taking of any steps for the execution of any sentence may have been intrusted, shall immediately report the compliance of the same to the sentencing court, transmitting therewith a brief certified statement of the proceedings had for the purpose, which shall be attached to the cause. ART. 998. The said proceedings shall be filed by the secretary of the judge who shall have taken part therein.

FINAL PROVISION.

All prior laws, royal decrees, regulations, orders, and special laws, in so far as they contain rules of criminal procedure for judges and courts of the ordinary jurisdiction, are hereby repealed.

'The law of civil procedure enforced in Cuba and Porto Rico devotes articles 1530 to 1541 to interventions. (See Appendix III.)

18473-01-32

APENDICE I.

DECRETOS DEL GOBIERNO MILITAR DE CUBA.

No. 41.

CUARTEL GENERAL DE LA DIVISIÓN DE CUBA,

Habana, 14 de Abril de 1899. El Gobernador General de Cuba ha tenido á bien disponer la publicación de lo siguiente:

ORGANIZACIÓN DEL TRIBUNAL SUPREMO.

I. Se crea por el presente decreto un tribunal que se denominará "Supremo," que ha de residir en la capital de la isla y que ejercerá su jurisdicción en todo el territorio cubano, sin que pueda haber otro con igual título, carácter ni categoría.

II. El Tribunal Supremo se compondrá de un Presidente, seis magistrados, un fiscal, dos tenientes-fiscales, un secretario, dos oficiales de sala y demás personal subalterno que luego se enumerará.

III. El personal subalterno estará constituido por tres oficiales y tres escribientes de secretaría, tres alguaciles, un portero y dos mozos de limpieza que se asignan al tribunal; dos escribientes y un alguacil para la fiscalía.

IV. Será una sola la sala de justicia del tribunal, compuesta del Presidente y los seis magistrados. La sala necesitará por lo menos de cinco magistrados para dictar autos y sentencias, y de tres para dictar providencias. En los recursos contra sentencias que llevaren consigo sentencias de muerte ó penas perpetuas, ó cuando el fiscal ó la parte acusadora solicitaren la imposición de alguna de estas penas, sala se compondrá necesariamente de siete. Todas las resoluciones se dictarán por mayoría absoluta de los votos que concurran á acordarlas. En los casos de discordia, se estará á lo que, sobre el particular, disponen las leyes procesales.

la

V. Cuando por recusación ó cualquier otro motivo esté impedido de funcionar un magistrado ó más de uno, si el número de los que quedaren no fuere suficiente para dictar la resolución de que se trate, suplirán por su orden el presidente de la audiencia de la Habana, los presidentes de sala y los magistrados de la misma. Entre los de igual categoría se preferirá al más antiguo, y en caso de antigüedad igual al de mayor edad. Este último criterio se aplicará también á los casos

APPENDIX I.

ORDERS OF THE CUBAN MILITARY GOVERNMENT.

No. 41.

HEADQUARTERS DIVISION OF CUBA,

Havana, April 14, 1899. The Military Governor of Cuba directs the publication of the following order:

ORGANIZATION OF THE SUPREME COURT.

I. A Supreme Court is hereby created, which shall sit in the capital of the island, and which shall have and shall exercise jurisdiction throughout Cuban territory. No other court or tribunal shall have the same title, character, or category.

II. The Supreme Court shall be composed of a President or Chief Justice, six associate justices, and one fiscal, two assistant fiscals, one secretary or chief clerk, two deputy clerks, and such other subordinate employees as may hereinafter be provided for.

III. The subordinate employees shall be six clerks for the secretary; three "alguaciles," one doorkeeper, two laborers, for the court; two clerks and one "alguacil," for the fiscal.

IV. As a court of justice, the Supreme Court shall sit as a single body, consisting of the President and the six associate justices. Five justices shall constitute a quorum to render judgment, but three may direct the course of pleadings and procedure. In appeals from sentences involving capital punishment or so-called perpetual penalties, or when the fiscal or plaintiff shall apply for the infliction of any such penalties, not less than seven justices shall sit at the hearing. All decisions and rulings must be concurred in by a majority of the justices sitting. In case of disagreement, the question shall be decided according to the Law of Procedure.

V. If on account of valid objection to one or more of the justices, or for any cause, then umber of justices is reduced below that required for a quorum, substitutes may be had in the following order: 1st, the president of the audiencia of Havana; 2d, the presidents of the different departments of the said audiencia; and 3d, the judges of the same. Among those of equal grade the senior judge in length of service shall be preferred, and in case two or more shall have the same