Lack of jurisdiction

In this blog of Mercury Abogados in Marbella we are going to see the possibility of the defendant claiming the lack of jurisdiction or competence in a civil court procedure. This claim is called in Spanish “Declinatoria” and is regulated in articles 63 to 65 of the Civil Procedure Law.

In it, the defendant must indicate the court that he/she considers competent to discuss the dispute. The defendant may submit it before the court that is already knowing about the lawsuit or the court where the defendant is domiciled. In the latter case, the court will send said communication as quickly as possible to the court that is hearing the dispute.

Deadlines

The declination must be submitted within the first 10 days of the deadline to answer the lawsuit. Once submitted, the deadlines to answer to lawsuit and the course of the procedure will be suspended. Without prejudice to said suspension, actions to secure evidence and precautionary measures may continue to be carried out, which, if not adopted, could cause irreparable harm to the actor.

This claim document must be accompanied by the evidence on which it is based with appointment to the court that is considered competent to know about the dispute. The court will give a chance to the actor to reply within 5 days to make allegations why the jurisdiction must be maintained in the court where he filed the lawsuit and not to which the defendant intends to decline.

The court will decide whether to uphold or reject. If it is upheld, the case is closed with indication of the competent court, except in cases due to lack of territorial jurisdiction, in this case, the files will be sent to the competent court, where the parties must appear within a period of 10 days. .

As you can see, there is a very short deadline to submit this claim, which could save unnecessary additional travel costs when there is an lack of jurisdiction or competence. Therefore, we recommend that you contact our expert litigation lawyers at Mercury Abogados in Marbella for more information.