1 Is it possible to initiate court proceedings via the internet?
Yes, in general, throughout the country.
In fact, all justice-sector professionals must use the remote or electronic systems in place in the Courts Service (Administración de Justicia) to lodge legal submissions and documents.
Specifically, the following persons are required to interact with the Courts Service electronically:
a) legal persons;
b) entities without legal personality;
c) professionals working in areas requiring registration in a professional organisation (such as lawyers (abogados) and court representatives (procuradores)) for any formalities and actions that they carry out with the Courts Service when exercising their professional activities;
d) notaries and registrars;
e) representatives of an interested party who is required to have electronic dealings with the Courts Service;
f) public administration officials for any actions and steps that they carry out because of their position.
Legal submissions and documents lodged remotely or electronically must indicate the type, number and year of the file to which they relate and will be duly identified by means of an electronic index enabling them to be properly located and consulted.
The main legal submission in the proceedings (such as the claim (demanda)) must include an electronic signature based on a qualified certificate and be compliant with the provisions governing the use of technologies in the Courts Service.
For natural persons, the use of digital documents is optional. However, in the context of legal proceedings for which assistance by a lawyer or court representative is necessary, legal documents must be submitted remotely because, as stated above, lawyers and court representatives are required to use remote or electronic systems.
In any case, any natural or legal person may submit documents remotely if they have an electronic ID card or a digital certificate.
Where the person lodging the documents is not obliged to interact with the Courts Service electronically, the hard-copy documents that they submit in the context of the proceedings must subsequently be digitised by the Courts Service.
Where documents are lodged electronically, a registered electronic signature is required in order to guarantee the authenticity of the content and provide proof of sending and receipt.
As regards hearings (vistas) and appearances:
Trials, hearings, appearances, statements and, in general, all procedural acts should preferably be carried out remotely, provided that the court offices have at their disposal the necessary technical means. Procedural acts carried out remotely must always take place via a secure access point, in accordance with the legislation governing the use of technology in the Courts Service. Where remote connections are made via links provided by the court (for example, using Cisco Webex or another approved platform), they must comply fully with the provisions of Article 129 bis of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil) in order to be deemed connections via secure points.
Exceptions to the obligation to hold hearings remotely are set out in Article 129 bis of the Code of Civil Procedure. They are as follows:
- acts whose purpose is to hear statements by parties, witnesses or experts;
- the questioning of minors;
- judicial examination of an individual; or
- the questioning of persons with a disability.
However, even in those cases, the judge has some discretion to decide how to hold hearings in certain circumstances (Article 129 bis(2) and (3) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
Parties wishing to lodge documents in the context of a trial or hearing held remotely must lodge those documents remotely, including in cases in which the parties are not required to interact with the Courts Service electronically. Where the party submitting the document or evidence is unable to do so in the form provided for above due to a specific problem, the party must provide justification for the circumstance preventing them from making the submission and bring this to the attention of the court prior to the hearing or procedural act, so that the court can determine what is appropriate.
The development of secure access points is regulated by Royal Decree-Law 6/2023 (Real Decreto-ley 6/2023) (Articles 62 and 63), which legally defines ‘secure access points’ and ‘safe places’ (the physical space from which the connection is made). The Technical Guide on Interoperability and Security must also be considered. It was drawn up by the State Technical Committee for the Electronic Justice System (Comité Técnico Estatal de la Administración Judicial Electrónica), and contains a number of requirements with which access points must comply.
As regards the possibility of consulting information on court offices and accessing electronic files:
The Ministry of Justice has a GENERAL ACCESS POINT TO THE COURTS SERVICE, which contains the directory of electronic courthouses that facilitate access to services, judicial proceedings and information relating to the Courts Service, the General Council of the Judiciary (Consejo General del Poder Judicial), the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía General del Estado) and public bodies linked to or reporting to the latter, to administrations with competence in the area of justice and other public administrations or corporations representing the interests of legal professionals.
The ELECTRONIC COURTHOUSE may also be used for legal formalities. It contains a register, available electronically, with information on the relevant resources and addresses. The Electronic Courthouse can also be used to grant court representatives a general power of representation for litigation and other practical services.
In accordance with the procedural law currently in force:
- digital access, the lodging of legal submissions and documents, and the service of procedural decisions by electronic means to professionals, and to natural persons should they so prefer, is widespread in all types of proceedings;
- parties to proceedings can find out about the progress of their case by accessing the electronic court file.
2 If so, for what types of cases is it available? Are any proceedings available exclusively via the internet?
The criteria referred to in Section 1 apply to all national law proceedings: civil, commercial and employment.
The document initiating the European payment order and small claims procedures must also be submitted online, in accordance with the above-mentioned terms.
It is mandatory for court representatives, lawyers and other legal representatives of the parties, and for legal persons, to initiate all proceedings online, as set out above.
It is not necessary to initiate proceedings remotely in situations in which the claimant (demandante) is a natural person and in respect of which assistance by a lawyer and court representative in the proceedings is not compulsory (in civil cases involving no more than EUR 2 000 in value and in employment cases at first instance).
3 Is the facility available at all times (i.e. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or just during specific hours? If so, what are those hours?
Document submission is generally available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Although the Courts Service has non-working days, with respect to the electronic submission of documents, Article 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure must be applied, which allows documents to be submitted electronically 24 hours a day, every day of the year. However, where documents are submitted on a non-working day or at a non-working time, for procedural purposes and for the purposes of calculating time limits, the submission will be deemed to have been made on the next working day.
In the event that the electronic submission of mandatory documents within the time limit as set out in the previous section is not possible due to an unplanned interruption to the online submission service, where possible, measures will be put in place to ensure that the user is informed of this situation and of the effects of the interruption and, where appropriate, it will be expressly indicated that the time limits that are about to expire will be extended. In this case, the sender may make the submission at the court office on the following working day, accompanied by proof of the interruption (Article 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
4 Should the details of the claim be provided in any particular format?
The following formats are recommended: .pdf, .rtf, .jpeg, .jpg, .tiff, .odt, .zip.
Compressed .zip files may only contain the following document formats: .pdf, .rtf, .jpeg, .jpg, .tiff, .odt.
In no case will it be possible to submit via LexNET (the online submission platform provided by the Spanish Courts Service) audio, video or compressed zip files containing documents in formats other than those indicated above.
If the electronic document is too big for the system to handle, it will need to be filed in hard copy or provided in a reproducible format.
5 How is transmission and storage of data secured?
The competent public authorities are responsible for setting up the appropriate electronic systems. Security is ensured through a system of prior authentication of electronic signature certificates for legal representatives and private individuals, while access for authorised officials is through cryptographic cards and digital certificates. The system must guarantee the authenticity of the content and provide proof of sending and receipt.
6 Is it necessary to use any kind of electronic signature and/or time record?
Yes, through a system of prior authentication.
7 Are court fees payable? If so, how can they be paid and are they different to those for non-electronic procedures?
Court fees are payable for claims from legal persons but not from natural persons.
Payment must be made electronically online and the claim must be accompanied by proof of payment (failure to comply with this requirement can be rectified at a later date).
There is no difference between electronic and non-electronic procedures.
See more information here.
The court fee can be paid on the Tax Agency’s website.
8 Is it possible to withdraw a claim that has been initiated via the internet?
Once submitted, a claim cannot be cancelled.
It may, however, be withdrawn by submitting notice of official withdrawal in electronic format.
9 If the claimant initiates proceedings via the internet is it possible and/or compulsory for the defendant to respond using the internet as well?
Each party will respond using the appropriate procedure according to their particular circumstances, as indicated in Section 1.
10 In terms of the electronic procedure what happens if the defendant responds to the claim?
The submission of documents and notices served on the parties’ legal representatives is effected electronically.
The court will provide the document in electronic format and will give notice in either electronic format or hard copy, depending on which rules apply and what the parties have opted for (see Section 1).
However, as regards notices communicated to parties who have not yet appeared or are not represented by a court representative (for example, an order to appear sent to a defendant (demandado) in proceedings to communicate the claim to them), the following criteria must be taken into account:
1. Where the party not yet represented by a court representative is legally or contractually obliged to interact with the Courts Service electronically (see Section 1), the notice must be sent electronically (in accordance with Article 162 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
However, if the notice relates to the first order to appear or summons or to the carrying-out by the parties of certain procedural acts, and three days pass without the addressee accessing the content, the notice will be sent to the addressee’s home address, in accordance with the provisions of Article 161 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
If this second notice fails, it will be published on the Single Judicial Noticeboard (Tablón Edictal Judicial Único), in accordance with the provisions of Article 164 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
2. Where the party not yet represented by a court representative is not legally or contractually obliged to interact with the Courts Service electronically (because they are a natural person, for example):
(a) Where the notice relates to the first order to appear (emplazamiento) or summons (citación), it may be sent to the defendant’s home address or remotely, provided, in the latter case, that this is voluntarily accepted by the defendant. If the addressee does not acknowledge receipt of such a summons or order within three days of it being made available to them in the Electronic Courthouse, it will be served on them at their home address.
Addressees with an email address or messaging service through which they can be contacted will in all cases be informed that the decision has been made available to them both at the court and in the Electronic Courthouse.
(b) Where the notice does not constitute the first order to appear or summons, but relates to the carrying-out by the parties of certain procedural acts, it will be communicated in accordance with the procedure set out in point (a) above, except in the case of a party who has previously opted for the use of electronic communication, while not being obliged to do so, in which case the procedure set out in point (c) will apply.
(c) As regards notices other than those provided for in points (a) and (b), the notices communicated will take full effect as soon as it is established that the information to be communicated has been correctly sent to any of the places designated as a home address, even if there is no record of receipt by the addressee, or where the addressee has previously opted for the use of electronic communication, while not being obliged to do so, and the notice has been sent according to that procedure, provided that three days have elapsed without the addressee accessing its content. In those cases, the notice is understood to have been lawfully transmitted with full effect. Exceptions will be made where the addressee provides evidence that they were unable to access the notification system during that period. If the lack of access is due to technical reasons and those reasons are still valid at the time they are brought to the attention of the Courts Service, the notice will be communicated by sending a hard copy of the decision.
11 In terms of the electronic procedure what happens if the defendant does not respond to a claim?
The court will rule on the case, as the defendant has not contested the claim.
However, if the claim has not been submitted due to an unplanned interruption to the online submission service, the procedure set out in Section 3 will apply.
12 Is it possible to submit documents to a court electronically and if so in what type of proceedings and under what conditions is it possible?
Yes, the submission and filing of procedural documents will be subject to the same terms as those set out in Section 1 for initiation of the procedure. The only restrictions are those applicable to the type of document and its size.
The original document must be supplied where requested by the court, in which case it may be sent by post.
13 Can judicial documents, and particularly judgments, be served via the internet?
The sending of notices by electronic means is the general rule, and for the parties’ legal representatives, it is mandatory.
If the parties have submitted their claim and documents online, they will be notified of the court decisions by the same medium.
Notices sent to the Public Prosecution Service (Ministerio Fiscal), the Government Legal Service (Abogacía del Estado), the legal services of public administrations and the Professional Bodies of Court Procedural Representatives (Colegios de Procuradores) will be deemed to have been effected on the working day following the date of receipt, where the act of communication was effected by electronic means. Where a notice is sent after 3 p.m., it will be deemed to have been received on the following working day.
14 Can judicial decisions be given electronically?
Yes; this is done under the same terms as in Section 13.
15 Can an appeal be made and its decision served via the internet?
Yes; this is done under the same terms as in Sections 1 and 13.
16 Is it possible to initiate enforcement proceedings via the internet?
Yes, under the same terms as those set out in Section 1 for initiating the procedure.
17 Can the parties or their legal representatives consult on-line cases? If so, how this can be done?
The general rule applicable in the whole country is that cases are consulted through the software apps ACCEDA and Horus, although there may be problems with timely and effective implementation.
Such access should normally be requested from the relevant court; access is communicated and made available on the websites of the Ministry of Justice referred to in Section 1.