Category: Litigation

It is increasingly the case that legal disputes are grounded in private email correspondence between the parties.

This type of private correspondence creates serious problems in court cases since, in many instances, it just consists of printouts of digital communication which, once the case has started, can easily be contested by the party whose case it harms because it lacks an authenticated signature, verifiable date, or digital certification of the email’s contents.

On 23 July 2020, however, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that emails can be regarded as a wholly valid and probative form of evidence, so that henceforth they may be presented as private documentary evidence in any legal proceeding as long as, in my opinion, they possess the following requisite guarantees of authenticity: Continue reading “E-MAILS CAN BE USED AS EVIDENCE IN LEGAL ACTION”

While Spain was in a state of emergency (estado de alarma), businesses were allowed to extend the deadline to claim debts from 7 October 2020 to 28 December 2020. In October 2015, legislation reformed Article 1.964 of the Civil Code so that personal claims without a specific term expire after five years instead of 15, as formerly. As a result of this reform, debts without a specific limitation period and which were due by 7 October 2015 (the day after the law came into force) are subject to the 15-year limitation with a deadline of 7 October 2020.

Since the declaration of the estado de alarma, however, these deadlines have been extended by 82 days, so that creditors have until 28 December this year to claim debts and avoid suffering losses due to late payment by debtors.  Continue reading “DEADLINES FOR LEGAL CLAIMS EXTENDED TO 28 DECEMBER BECAUSE OF Covid-19”

A new Spanish Law enacted on 7th October 2015 reduced the general term established to file lawsuits from 15 to 5 years. Below is a list of legal actions, credits and contracts affected by this new expiry date.

If you have bought a property off-plan, or are thinking of buying one, you need to be aware that the law in Spain changed in 2016 and this might affect you.

Building Regulation Law (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación – LOE) came into force on 1 January 2016, and it introduced important changes for off-plan buyers.

Principally, it cuts the period within which those who have not yet taken possession of their property can reclaim their deposits from the promoters and banks which received them without providing the legally-required guarantees. Before 31 December 2015, Law 57/1968 of 27 July established a period of 15 years from the agreed delivery date for reclaiming a deposit for breach of contract (when the property was not handed over by the contracted date or when there was a significant delay in handing it over).

Continue reading “RECOVERING DEPOSITS FOR OFF-PLAN PURCHASES”