Changes to what Commercial Courts handle in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. First Instance Courts (Juzgados de Primera Instancia) will now hear collective actions on general contracting conditions and consumer protection, which used to belong to the Commercial Courts.
2. As an exception, Commercial Courts will no longer hear passenger claims on air, rail, bus and sea transport set out in several EU regulations; those claims can be filed before the First Instance Courts.
3. Commercial Courts regain jurisdiction over insolvency proceedings of natural persons who are not merchants, and in provinces with several such courts those petitions will go to just one of them (or two or more if there are more than five).
4. Specialized divisions of the Provincial Courts will hear appeals against Spanish Patent and Trademark Office decisions that end the administrative route, and the Civil Procedure Act regulates that appeal through oral proceedings, with a two-month deadline (six months if the decision is not express).
5. The insolvency judge will have exclusive jurisdiction over collective labor actions on substantial changes to working conditions, transfers, dismissals, contract suspensions and reduced hours for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons, and over related preliminary questions.
6. The law takes effect twenty days after publication in the official gazette, but the changes on appeals against Spanish Patent and Trademark Office decisions take effect on January 14, 2023.

Who it affects

• Consumers: Can file collective actions and passenger transport claims before First Instance Courts.
• Natural persons in insolvency: Their insolvency cases will be handled by Commercial Courts, not First Instance Courts.
• Trademark and patent holders: Their appeals against Patent and Trademark Office decisions go to the commercial divisions of Provincial Courts.
• Employees of insolvent companies: The insolvency judge will decide collective dismissals and working condition changes.
• Judges heading Civil Registries: Those who choose to stay move from voluntary leave of absence to a special services status.

Words worth knowing

Concurso de acreedores (insolvency proceeding)

A court process for when a person or company cannot pay its debts, to reorganize or distribute what is owed.

Exoneración del pasivo insatisfecho (discharge of unpaid debt)

A benefit allowing a person in insolvency to be released from debts they cannot pay, if certain conditions are met.

Vía administrativa (administrative route)

Steps before a public agency that must be completed before going to court; exhausting it means those steps are finished.

Cuestiones prejudiciales (preliminary questions)

Matters of another area of law that must be decided first before the main case can be resolved.

Servicios especiales (special services status)

A special status for a judge who keeps pay and rights while holding a post outside the ordinary judiciary.

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