Barcelona, 2016-11-03

With effect from 7^th October 2015 the Spanish national legislative has introduced bylaw 42/2015 on the reform of the civil procedure law (Ley 42/2015, de 5 de octubre, de reforma de la Ley 1/2000, de 7 de enero, de Enjuiciamiento Civil) a major simplification of the notification concerning a process document to the recipient.

Artículo 152 LEC Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC) :
1. Los actos de comunicación se realizarán bajo la dirección del secretario judicial, que será el responsable de la adecuada organización del servicio. Tales actos se ejecutarán por:
1.º Los funcionarios del Cuerpo de Auxilio Judicial.
2.º El procurador de la parte que lo solicite.
A tal efecto, en todo escrito que dé inicio a un procedimiento judicial, de ejecución, o a otra instancia, el solicitante deberá expresar si interesa que todos los actos de comunicación se realicen por su procurador. (...)
(...)
Se tendrán por válidamente realizados estos actos de comunicación cuando en la diligencia quede constancia suficiente de haber sido practicados en la persona, en el domicilio, en la dirección electrónica habilitada al efecto, por comparecencia electrónica o por los medios telemáticos o electrónicos elegidos por el destinatario.
A estos efectos, el procurador acreditará, bajo su responsabilidad, la identidad y condición del receptor del acto de comunicación, cuidando de que en la copia quede constancia fehaciente de la recepción, de su fecha y hora y del contenido de lo comunicado.
2. (...)
(...)

In English:
1. The announcement of a communication is carried out under the control of the court secretary who is responsible for an appropriate organisation of the service. The announcements are performed by:
1. The judicial service’s officials (Cuerpo de Auxilio Judicial).
2. The procurators (Procurador) of the applicant.
For this purpose, the applicant can show interest in each legal document initiating judicial proceedings, execution or at another location that all announcements shall be made by the procurator.
(…)
The announcement of the notification is effectively performed when the notification report adequately confirms that the notification was delivered to the person himself, to his residence, to an electronic mailbox set up for this purpose, by electronic summons or by telematics or electronic media the recipient has provided.
For this purpose, the procurator attests under his responsibility the identity and the circumstances of the announcement to the notification’s recipient considering that in the notification copy clear evidence of reception, date and time as well as of the notification’s content is stated.
2. (…)
(…)

Although the new notification type has been  in force for just over one year, notification by judicial service in practice still takes rarely place for lack of knowledge or willingness of the local procurators. Furthermore, the notification by procurators incurs  higher costs than notification by judicial service.  In addition, a notification by a procurator can be – at least temporarily – frustrated, when the recipient simply refuses to accept it. The Spanish notification terms still enables malicious debtors numerous possibilities to prolong proceedings beyond belief or even to frustrate them.

Author: Dr. Jochen Beckmann, attorney at law

www.voelker.es