Rules on when foreign states cannot be sued in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law regulates immunities before Spanish courts for foreign states, their leaders, warships and state vessels and aircraft, visiting armed forces, international organizations, and conferences held in Spain.
2. Foreign states and their property cannot be sued or have enforcement measures taken against them by Spanish courts, unless they have consented to jurisdiction or the case falls under exceptions: commercial transactions, employment contracts, personal injury or property damage, real estate, intellectual property, participation in entities, commercial ships, or arbitration agreements.
3. Foreign heads of state, heads of government, and foreign ministers are inviolable and immune while in office. After leaving office, they keep immunity only for official acts, and never for genocide, forced disappearance, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
4. Foreign warships, state vessels, and state aircraft enjoy immunity before Spanish courts, even when in Spanish waters, territory, or airspace.
5. International organizations with headquarters or offices in Spain have inviolable premises and immunity for their functions, but they cannot claim it in labor or private law proceedings involving their staff unless they provide an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
6. Spanish courts must examine immunities on their own initiative and decline such cases. Communications with foreign states go through the diplomatic channel via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and no default judgment can be issued until four months have passed since notification.

Who it affects

• Individuals and companies who want to sue a foreign state in Spain: They can only do so in the exception cases set by the law.
• Workers hired by a foreign state in Spain: They can generally claim before Spanish courts, with exceptions such as diplomats or public authority roles.
• International organizations with headquarters or offices in Spain: They have immunity and inviolability, but limited in labor and private law matters.
• Foreign states and their leaders: They enjoy jurisdictional and enforcement immunity under this law's rules.
• Spanish judges and courts: They must check immunities on their own initiative before taking a case.

Words worth knowing

Inmunidad de jurisdicción (jurisdictional immunity)

The right of a state or organization not to be sued or tried by another state's courts.

Inmunidad de ejecución (enforcement immunity)

The right not to have property seized or court decisions enforced against it.

Reconvención (counterclaim)

A lawsuit filed by the defendant within the same proceeding, against the person who sued them.

Declinatoria (motion to decline jurisdiction)

A request asking the court to declare itself incompetent to hear the case.

Sentencia en rebeldía (default judgment)

A judgment issued when the defendant does not appear or respond to the case.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries