A continuance shall be granted if at the time a case is to be tried, the party applying for the continuance shows that he has been unable, with the exercise of due diligence, to obtain evidence material to his case; or that a material witness has absented himself without the contrivance of the party applying for the continuance.
Art. 1602.Peremptory Grounds
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title V. Trial · Chapter 3. Continuance · Last amended 1966 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1602 requires a Louisiana court to grant a continuance when the party asking for it shows, at the time the case is set for trial, that despite due diligence it could not obtain evidence material to the case, or that a material witness is absent through no fault of the party seeking the continuance.
Full Text of Art. 1602
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1966, No. 186, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Unlike Article 1601's open-ended discretion, Article 1602 uses the word “shall.” Once the required showing is made, the court has no choice but to grant the continuance.
Two specific situations trigger it: the applying party has been unable, despite exercising due diligence, to obtain evidence material to the case, or a material witness has absented himself without the applying party's own contrivance.
Due diligence matters on both sides of this rule. A party cannot wait until the eve of trial and then claim it needs more time to gather evidence it could have obtained sooner, and a witness's absence counts only if the party seeking the continuance did not bring that absence about. Article 1604 gives the adverse party a way to defeat a continuance sought on witness-absence grounds by admitting what the missing witness would have said.
Frequently Asked Questions
When must a Louisiana court grant a continuance rather than just consider one?
When the moving party shows that, despite due diligence, it could not obtain material evidence, or that a material witness is absent without the moving party's own doing.
Can a party get a continuance by making a witness unavailable?
No. The witness's absence has to be without the contrivance of the party seeking the continuance.
Does due diligence matter under Article 1602?
Yes. The party has to show it could not obtain the evidence despite exercising due diligence, not merely that it does not have the evidence yet.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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