Many of Puerto Rico`s laws (Leyes de Puerto Rico) are modeled on the Spanish Civil Code, which is part of Spanish law. [2] After taking control of Puerto Rico in 1901, the U.S. government introduced legal reforms that led to the adoption of criminal, criminal, and civil procedural codes modeled on those of California at the time. Although Puerto Rico has since followed the federal example by transferring criminal and civil proceedings from legal law to rules adopted by the judiciary, several parts of its criminal law still reflect the influence of the California penal code. Puerto Rico is the only current U.S. jurisdiction whose legal system operates primarily in a language other than U.S. English: Spanish. However, since the U.S. federal government works primarily in English, the result is that Puerto Rican lawyers are generally bilingual to plead in the U.S. in English. Federal courts and plead federal preemption issues in Puerto Rican courts.
[ref. needed] Puerto Rico`s legal system is a mixture of civil law and common law. [1] The Constitution of Puerto Rico, ratified in 1952, contains nine articles. Most articles describe the framework of government in Puerto Rico, but article two describes many individual rights. This Bill of Rights is similar to the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. Article seven governs the procedure for amending the Constitution of Puerto Rico. An amendment must be proposed to the Puerto Rico legislature, and it will appear on a ballot if two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature vote in favour. No amendment can abolish the Bill of Rights. Since Puerto Rico is under the sovereignty of the United States, United States federal law applies in the Territory and federal cases are heard by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.