LESSON 3 - TYPES OF COURTS

Question 1

Name the chambers of the Supreme Court (Salas del Tribunal Supremo).
- Where is it located

Answer 1

• It is located in Madrid.
• 1st chamber: civil jurisdiction.
• 2nd chamber: criminal jurisdiction.
• 3rd chamber: contentious-administrative jurisdiction.
• 4th chamber: laboral/social jurisdiction.
• 5th chamber: military jurisdiction (special jurisdiction).

Question 2

Superior Court of Justice AACCs (Tribunal Superior de Justicia)
Name the chambers

Answer 2

• As as a consequence of the territorial division, these courts were created for the 17 CCAAs.
• They have 3 chambers: civil-criminal chamber, contentious-administrative chamber and labor/social chamber.
• 1st chamber: civil-criminal jurisdiction.
• 2nd chamber: contentious-administrative jurisdiction.
• 3rd chamber: social jurisdiction.

Question 3

Name the chambers of the National Court (Audiencia Nacional)

Answer 3

• It is located in Madrid.
• It has jurisdiction over the entire Spanish Territory.
• criminal jurisdiction.
• contentious-administrative jurisdiction.
• social jurisdiction.

Question 4

Name the chambers of the Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial)

Answer 4

• Civil jurisdiction.
• Criminal jurisdiction.

Question 5

Name the courts of the civil jurisdiction, 1st instance

Answer 5

These Courts have 1st instance when dealing with civil matters:

• judges of peace.
• judges of 1st instance.
• commercial courts.
• courts of violence against women.

Question 6

Judges of peace, civil

Answer 6

• We can find these courts in small towns that don’t have 1st instance judges; they have jurisdiction over civil-criminal matters.
• Acting in the civil jurisdiction, they deal with claims of 90 euros or less; this is why we say they don’t do much.

Question 7

1st Instance judges, civil

Answer 7

• These judges are distributed all across the country in districts called “grupos judiciales”, which are integrated in several municipalities.
• In less populated districts there is only one judge, and in more populated districts there can be several judges.
• In this cases, the Organic Law sees the possibility of specialization of one of the judges.
• For example, judges of family matters will specialize in family matters.

Question 8

Commercial Courts, civil

Answer 8

• These Courts got established in 2003 as part of the civil jurisdiction.
• Every province has at least one of these courts.
• They have jurisdiction over many matters, especially in “bankruptcy.”

Question 9

Courts of violence against women, civil

Answer 9

• These Courts got established in 2004, and their civil jurisdiction is related to family matters involving acts of domestic violence against women.

Question 10

Name the Courts of civil jurisdiction, 2nd level of jurisdiction acting as appeal courts

Answer 10

• These courts act as appeal courts:
• Provincial court.
• Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs.
• Supreme Court of Justice.

Question 11

Provincial Court, civil

Answer 11

• There is one of these courts in all 50 of Spain’s province.
  They are divided into sections composed of three judges each.
• Traditionally they had jurisdiction over criminal matters, but nowadays the also have jurisdiction of the civil branch.
• They act as “ordinary courts of appeal” for civil matters.

Question 12

Superior Court of the AACCs, civil

Answer 12

• In the civil-criminal chamber, they deal with a new type of appeal that was introduced by the “new code of civil procedures” called “recurso extraordinario por infracción penal”.
• They also act as “courts of casación”, dealing with matters that involve the application of the AACC (Dº Foral).

Question 13

Supreme Court, civil

Answer 13

• The civil chamber of the Supreme Court is the first chamber.
• They deal with “motion to review,” and decide the lawsuits filed against the higher members of the government, parliament and judiciary (Art. 56 OA).

Question 14

Name the courts of the criminal jurisdiction

Answer 14

• judges of peace.
• investigative judges/courts.
• criminal judges.
• jury courts.
• supreme court.
• superior court of justice of the AACCs.
• provincial court.
• national court.

Question 15

Judges of peace, criminal

Answer 15

They deal with less serious cases, cases of minor importance. They are found in municipalities.

Question 16

Investigative judges/courts, criminal

Answer 16

• They deal with less serious cases that are handled by an investigative judge.
• There is at least one of these courts in each district.
• In small districts, the first instance judge and the investigative judge is the judge, exercising both civil and criminal jurisdiction.
• For this reason, these courts are called “juzgados de primera instancia” and “juzgados de instrucción”.

Question 17

Criminal judges, criminal

Answer 17

There is one in each province and they deal with crimes that have up to 5 years in prison as punishment.

Question 18

Provincial Court, criminal

Answer 18

• There is one of these courts in every province.
• They act as a first instance court when it comes to less serious crimes (up to 5 years).
• They also act as an appeal court, reviewing cases judged in the first instance by a criminal judge.

Question 19

Jury Courts, criminal

Answer 19

• These courts were introduced in 1995, composed of 9 citizens.
• Proceedings are decided by a judge of the Provincial Court.
  In some cases, the presiding judge will be a member of the competent court.
• But most of the time, the presiding judge will be a Provincial court judge.

Question 20

Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs, criminal

Answer 20

Civil-criminal chamber.
- They will sometimes act as a first instance court when the accused is a member of government and parliament.
- Usually, the act as appeal courts.

Question 21

National court, Criminal

• who handles the investigative phase.
• who handles appeals

Answer 21

The criminal chamber has jurisdiction over cases involving major criminal offences (i.e: terrorism).
- When the case is under the jurisdiction of the criminal division of the National Court, the investigative phase is handled by “Central Investigative Judge”.
- When it is a less serious crime, the second phase will be carried out by “juzgados centrales de lo penal”.
- When the case is under jurisdiction of the Criminal chamber/division, the judgment can be appealed to an “appeal court”.
- When the case is under jurisdiction of the “juzgados centrales de lo penal”, the judgment can be appealed to the “criminal division”.

Question 22

Supreme Court, criminal

Answer 22

• The criminal chamber has jurisdiction over the “recurso de casación”.
• When the accused is a member of the government or the parliament, it will act as an instance court and the judgment cannot be appealed.
• In these cases, we have to distinguish between the investigative phase and the trial phase.
• In the investigative phase, the judge of the criminal chamber will be the investigative judge.
• Whoever is the judge in the investigative phase, cannot be a member of the criminal chamber in the trial phase (Second phase).

Question 23

Name the SPECIALIZED courts of the criminal jurisdiction

Answer 23

• Prison custody courts.
• Courts for minors.

Question 24

Prison Custody Courts, criminal

Answer 24

• One in each province.
• They have jurisdiction over a few “judgment enforcement” problems, and they also protect rights and benefits of convicts.
• When the case is under the jurisdiction of the National Court, the court will be called Centralized Prison Custody Court.

Question 25

Courts for minors

Answer 25

• One in each province
• They have jurisdiction over crimes committed by minors, when the person committing the crime is underage (less than 18 years) then the case will be handled by these courts.
• When the case is under the jurisdiction of the National Court, the court will be called Centralized Minor Courts.

Question 26

Name the Contentious-administrative courts

Answer 26

• Contentious-administrative court.
• Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs.
• National Court.
• Supreme Court.

Question 27

Contentious-administrative Courts

Answer 27

At least one of these in each province, located in the capital.
They deal with cases against the Administration of the AACCs and the municipalities, and sometimes with cases against the administration of the Central State.

Question 28

Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs, contentious-administrative

Answer 28

• The contentious-administrative chamber, they have jurisdiction over cases against the administration of the CCAAs and the Central State.
• They also act as appeal courts for the Administrative-Contentious Courts.
• When the case is very important for the administration, they act as a first instance court.

Question 29

National Court, contentious-administrative

Answer 29

The contentious-administrative chamber, some of these cases are judged by “juzgados centrales de lo contencioso-administrativo”.

Question 30

Supreme Court, contentious-administrative

Answer 30

The contentious-administrative chamber of the Supreme Court acts as first instance level, for example, in cases against the “Consejo de Ministros,” but their main jurisdiction is the “Recurso de casación.”

Question 31

Name the labor-social courts

Answer 31

• Juzgados de lo social.
• Supreme Court.
• National Court.
• Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs.

Question 32

Juzgados de lo social, labor-social

Answer 32

At least one of these judges in each province depending of their population.

Question 33

Superior Court of Justice of the AACCs, labor-social

Answer 33

• Social chamber.
• It is basically a court of appeal, from the “Juzgados de lo Social”, but it is not called “apelación”, it is “suplicación”. Sometimes they hear cases in the first instance.

Question 34

National Court, labor-social

Answer 34

Depending on the case, they hear the case in first instance.

Question 35

Supreme Court, labor-social

Answer 35

Sometimes they hear cases of first instance, but normally they act in “Recurso de casación”

Question 36

Recurso de casación

Answer 36

The purpose of this resource is to appeal judicial sentences that contain an incorrect application or interpretation of the law.