Witness Testimony in the Labor Trial: Rules and Procedures

The labor process is characterized by the search for material or objective truth over formal truth. In this context, witness testimony in the labor trial assumes a leading and often decisive role. Given the nature of employment relationships, where many relevant facts (such as unregistered work, mistreatment, unpaid overtime, or the mechanics of an accident) occur within the intimacy of the workplace or without documentary backing, the testimony of those who witnessed the events is the ideal means for the labor judge to reconstruct the reality of what happened.

According to specialized doctrine, established in the book "Procesal Laboral" by authors Julio A. Grisolia, Ernesto J. Ahuad, and Laura S. Cáceres, in terms of procedural law, a witness is defined as a third party, meaning someone other than the parties involved, who can provide data or references regarding the facts debated in the process. This knowledge must have been acquired personally, having perceived the events through their senses. The regulatory bases in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) are found in Articles 89 and 90 of Law 18,345, complemented by the National Civil and Commercial Procedural Code (CPCCN) via Article 155 of the LO, while in the Province of Buenos Aires, Law 11,653 applies.

Requirements and Exclusions to be a Witness

The suitability of witnesses is a fundamental aspect to analyze before offering them. Procedural law establishes clear rules on who can and cannot testify in a labor trial.

First, any person over fourteen years of age can be proposed as a witness and, once notified, has a public duty to appear and testify. However, there are absolute exclusions dictated by kinship to guarantee impartiality and protect the family nucleus. Blood relatives or relatives by affinity in the direct line of the parties cannot be offered as witnesses. This means that parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, great-grandparents, or great-grandchildren cannot testify. Likewise, the spouse is excluded, even if legally separated, with the sole exception of being cited exclusively for signature recognition.

On the contrary, in the collateral line (siblings, cousins, nephews, uncles), the law does not impose an absolute exclusion. However, their probative value may be reduced or subject to stricter scrutiny by the magistrate due to the affective bond. A special case is that of the concubine: lacking the legal marital bond, the exclusions of Article 427 of the CPCCN do not apply. Despite this, judges will evaluate this testimony strictly and in accordance with the rules of sound judicial discretion (sana crítica), taking into account the emotional and financial relationships that usually exist in the couple.

Regarding legal entities, their directors can be witnesses, as there is no express legal impediment, unless they have assumed the status of a party in the process (for example, if they answered the lawsuit on behalf of the company).

Number of Witnesses per Party

In the National Labor Justice (CABA), the maximum number of witnesses admitted is five (5) per party, unless the nature or complexity of the trial justifies a larger number. In cases of joint litigation (litisconsorcio), where there are multiple plaintiffs or defendants, five witnesses are admitted for each member. However, doctrine warns that in practice it is neither frequent nor usually allowed that, in an active facultative joint litigation of twenty plaintiffs, one hundred witnesses testify. The judge, using their ordering powers, will limit the number to maintain balance, equality between the parties, and the speed of the process.

In the Province of Buenos Aires, regardless of the number admitted, it is allowed to subsidiarily propose up to three additional witnesses to replace those who could not testify, and this substitution can be made until the day of the hearing.

The Duty to Appear and Witness Rights

The witness has a legal obligation to appear at the court on the scheduled date and time. If a witness is unable to attend due to illness, they must justify it sufficiently in advance with a medical certificate indicating the date, the place where the sick person is, and the duration of the impediment. In these exceptional cases, the witness may be examined at their home by the court secretary. If, on the other hand, it is proven that the witness could have appeared but did not, they will be fined and brought to the next hearing by public force.

It is important to highlight a fundamental right that protects the working witness: any cited person who works in a dependency relationship has the unwaivable right to be absent from work on the day of the hearing. That time must be computed for remuneration purposes as time effectively worked. To prove this circumstance to their employer, the court will issue the corresponding certificate of attendance through the Secretariat.

Development of the Testimonial Hearing

The act of declaring begins with the taking of the oath or the promise to tell the truth, depending on the witness's choice, at which point they are informed of the penal consequences of the crime of perjury (imprisonment for those who testify falsely or are reticent). Following this, and before questioning about the facts, the witness must answer the "generals of the law" (generales de la ley). They will be asked for their name, age, marital status, profession, and address; if they are related to any of the parties; if they have a direct or indirect interest in the lawsuit; if they are a close friend or enemy; or if they are a dependent, creditor, or debtor of any of the litigants. Even if there are minor discrepancies with the data provided by the party that proposed them, the testimony will be received if it is unquestionable that it is the same person.

During the interrogation, the witness must answer aloud, without reading notes, unless the technical nature of the question authorizes it (which will be recorded). They must always give the "reason for their saying," that is, explain how and why they know what they are declaring. The witness can only refuse to answer if the answer would expose them to criminal prosecution, compromise their honor, or imply the violation of a professional, military, scientific, artistic, or industrial secret.

Evaluation of the Evidence

Once the witness testimony has been produced, the parties will have the opportunity to make closing arguments and state their views on the suitability of the witnesses. Finally, at the sentencing stage, the judge or tribunal will appreciate the statements according to the rules of "sound judicial discretion" (sana crítica). This implies a logical, rational evaluation based on the experience of the circumstances and reasons that corroborate or diminish the probative force of each testimony. The judge will evaluate coherence, contradictions, non-verbal language (when immediacy applies), and the harmony of the testimony with the rest of the evidentiary material (documentary, expert, informative) in the case.