Litispendencia

In Spanish law. The condition of a suit pending in a court of justice. In order to render this condition valid, it is necessary that the judge be competent to take cognizance of the cause; that the defendant has been duly cited to appear, and fully informed, in due time and form, of the nature of the demand, or that, if he has not, it has been through his own fault or fraud. The litispendencia produces two effects: The legal impossibility of alienating the property in dispute during the pendency of the suit; the accumulation of all the proceedings in the cause, in the tribunal where the suit is pending, whether the same be had before the same judge or other judges or notaries. This cumulation may be required in any stage of the cause, and forms a valid exception to the further proceeding, until the cumulation is effected. Escriche, Die. Raz.