Judiciary Of Spain
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The Judiciary of Spain consists of
Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
s and
Tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...
s, composed of
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s and
magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
(Justices), who have the power to administer justice in the name of the King of Spain.


Law

The Spanish legal system is a civil law system based on comprehensive legal codes and laws rooted in
Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
, as opposed to
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
, which is based on precedent court rulings. Operation of the Spanish judiciary is regulated by Organic Law 6/1985 of the Judiciary Power, Law 1/2000 of Civil Judgement, Law of September 14 1882 on Criminal Judgement, Law 29/1998 of Administrative Jurisdiction, Royal Legislative Decree 2/1995, which rewrote the Law of Labour Procedure, and Organic Law 2/1989 that regulates Military Criminal Procedure.


Constitutional principles

The
Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...
guarantees respect for the essential principles necessary for the correct functioning of the judiciary: *Impartiality: to guarantee the assured effective judicial trusteeship to all citizens by the Constitution, judges must remain impartial in cases that they judge and must abstain from cases that they have no reason to enter into. *Independence: courts and tribunals are independent of all authority or people in the exercise of jurisdictional power. *Irremovability: judges and magistrates are irremovable and cannot be removed, suspended, separated or retired without cause and with guarantees established by law. *Responsibility: judges and magistrates are personally responsible for their disciplinary infractions and crimes committed in the exercise of their office; this responsibility can only be required by the established legal disciplinary tract, without interference by the executive or legislative branches of the government or through ordinary legal proceedings. *Legality: in the exercise of their jurisdictional functions, judges and magistrates are subject to the Constitution and to the rest of the laws just as other branches of government and citizens are.


Court organization

The judiciary can be organised into different levels of territorial organisation: * the national courts * the
autonomous communities of Spain eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
* the
provinces of Spain A province in Spain * es, provincias, ; sing. ''provincia'') * Basque (, sing. ''probintzia''. * Catalan (), sing. ''província''. * Galician (), sing. ''provincia''. is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities, ...
* the judicial district, which is the basic unit of the judiciary, covers one or several municipalities, and is served by at least one first instance and inquiry court The judiciary can be also organised into five jurisdictional orders, which are each composed of several different circuits: * civil jurisdiction *
criminal jurisdiction Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in constitutional law and public law to describe the power of courts to hear a case brought by a State (polity), state accusing a defendant of the commission of a crime. It is relevant in three distinct situati ...
* administrative jurisdiction * labour or social jurisdiction * military jurisdiction Unipersonal courts are those courts that are controlled by one judge as opposed to the rest of the High Courts of Justice controlled by panels of judges. They are the basic units of judicial procedure in Spain.


Territorial


National


=Supreme Court

= The
Supreme Court of Spain The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regulat ...
() is the highest judicial body in Spain. Composed of five chambers, it has cognizance of all jurisdictional orders and its rulings cannot be appealed, except to the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
, when one of the parties claims that their constitutional rights have been infringed.


=Audiencia Nacional

= The , based in Madrid, has jurisdiction over the entire territory of the nation. It has four Chambers, although it is composed of 3 jurisdictions, that cover: * Appeal (no jurisdiction), will take cognizance of appeals against Criminal Jurisdiction rulings. *Criminal jurisdiction in cases pertaining to crimes against the
Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
,
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
,
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, counterfeiting and crimes committed in more than one jurisdiction. *Administrative jurisdiction, deals with appeal cases against resolutions of ministers, secretaries of state, the Council of Ministers] and the chiefs of staff of the armed forces. *Social jurisdiction involves cases pertaining to collective bargaining agreements that cover more than the territory of one autonomous community. The Audiencia Nacional also has specialized courts dealing with criminal inquiries, penitentiary surveillance and juvenile cases. Some jurists consider this court to be unnecessary and a successor to the Public Order Court, the political court during the Francoist Spain, Francoist Period.


Autonomous communities


=High Courts of Justice

= The High Courts of Justice () have authority over a single autonomous community, and are the highest jurisdictional body of the autonomous community without prejudice to the Supreme Court. They are divided into three Chambers covering four jurisdictional orders: *The First Chamber, or Civil and Criminal Chamber, is responsible for civil cases involving acts by the president of the autonomous community, members of the government council or of the legislature, and in cases of communities with their own civil law appealing against rulings by inferior courts. In the Case of Criminal Jurisdiction, to inquire, and proceed in cases related to public prosecutors, judges, magistrates, members of the legislature and government council, that relate to their activity within the autonomous community. *The Second or Administrative Chamber: hears appeals against resolutions of state bodies not assigned to other courts, appeals against resolutions of the government of an autonomous community or its members, appeals against resolutions of legislative bodies pertaining to administration, appeals against electoral boards and appeals against first instance rulings by administrative courts. *The Third or Social Chamber: is responsible for appeals against the rulings of first instance social courts and of cases pertaining to collective bargaining agreements that affect the territory of one autonomous community. Some examples are: *
High Court of Justice of Cantabria The High Court of Justice of Cantabria (TSJC), is the highest court of the Spanish judiciary in the Autonomous Community of Cantabria. Established pursuant to Title VIII of the Spanish Constitution, it has original jurisdiction over cases against ...
*
High Court of Justice of Castile and León The High Court of Justice of Castile and León ( es, Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León), is the superior and appellate court of the Judiciary of Spain in the territory of the autonomous community of Castile and Leon, notwithstand ...


Provincial


=Audiencia Provincial

= The is a court that covers the territory of a single province and is responsible for two jurisdictional orders, civil and criminal. *Civil chambers: are responsible for appeals against judgements by courts of first instance. *Criminal chambers: judge serious criminal cases.


Jurisdictional


Courts of first instance

The courts of first instance are the basic courts of civil jurisdiction assigned to judicial districts. They hear all cases not assigned to High Courts of Justice, and also act as courts of second instance (appeal) in relation to rulings by Justices of the Peace. Judges of first instance are usually responsible for the civil registry.


Courts of inquiry

Courts of inquiry are responsible for investigating all criminal cases in order for them to be judged by High Courts of Justice. In the case of smaller districts, first instance and inquiry courts are usually unified under the responsibility of one judge.


Criminal courts

Judge less serious crimes and misdemeanor, as well as acting as second instance (appeal) courts for the courts of Justices of the Peace. They are assigned to every judicial district – a smaller division inside of a province which includes various municipalities –.


Administrative courts

Are responsible for all cases corresponding to appeals for national and autonomic bodies not assigned by the constitution to other courts as of the appeals to resolutions issued by municipal bodies. They are assigned to a province.


Social courts

Social courts are basic courts related to labour law, and are assigned to a province.


Justices of the Peace

These courts are assigned to a municipality that is not the head of a judicial district and are presided over by a justice of the peace. Their responsibilities relate to the criminal and civil orders in minor cases.


Juvenile courts

Criminal cases committed by those who are over 14 years old and under 18 years old are the responsibility of juvenile courts and are ruled under the Organic Law 1/2000 “of Criminal Responsibilities of Minors”


Penitentiary surveillance courts

Oversee penitentiary conditions for criminals and establish penitentiary degrees or conditional freedom.


Constitutional Court

The
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
is not considered part of the judiciary, but as an independent branch of the state responsible for interpretation of the constitution. Despite this, its functionality and activities are usually similar to those of the rest of the judiciary.


Officers of the court


Judges and magistrates

The Spanish Judiciary is a professional judiciary whose members are public servants divided into the three categories of judge, magistrate, and Supreme Court magistrate Entrance to the judiciary is limited to Spanish nationals who hold a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
issued by a Spanish university and who are not legally disbarred from applying. Applicants must pass a competitive state exam, a state exam with contest of merits, or a contest of merits. Selected applicants enter the Judiciary School where they take mandatory courses over a year, as well as carrying out practical courses as associate judges in courts and tribunals of the different jurisdictional orders. Candidates passing this course are then sworn in as judges. Magistrates of the supreme court can be drafted in a contest of merits between prestigious jurists and lawyers with more than fifteen years of professional experience. One in every five judges of the supreme court is recruited this way. Justices of the peace do not belong to the judiciary and are local people elected by the town council of the city where they were appointed. Judges and magistrates are banned from membership of political parties and
trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
, from issuing messages of congratulation or censuring public powers or official corporations, and from attending public meetings or rallies in their role as members of the judiciary.


Governance

Governance of the Spanish Judiciary is assigned to the
General Council of the Judiciary The General Council of the Judiciary ( es, Consejo General del Poder Judicial, CGPJ) is the national council of the judiciary of Spain. It is the constitutional body that governs all the Judiciary of Spain, such as courts, and judges, as it i ...
. This constitutional body, although not a court in itself, is responsible for overseeing the work of all courts and tribunals of Spain, as well as of allocating judges and magistrates to each of them. The General Council is composed of 20 members, twelve of who must be judges and magistrates and the remaining eight other jurists (lawyers, professors etc.) of renowned competence and with more than fifteen years professional experience. Of the twelve judges, six are elected by the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
and six by the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by three fifths supermajority from a list of thirty-six candidates proposed by professional associations of judges and magistrates according to the size of their membership or any independent candidate who obtains the endorsement of two percent of their colleagues. Of the eight jurists four are elected by the Congress of Deputies and four by the Senate by three fifths supermajority.art 112 LOPJ


References


External links


Judiciary of Spain webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judiciary Of Spain Law of Spain Government of Spain