How do you know which court has jurisdiction?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

First you need to work out which branch of the courts the matter belongs to. Disputes between private individuals or businesses go to the civil courts, employment disputes to the employment courts, most disputes with a public authority to the administrative courts and criminal offences to the criminal courts. Within civil matters, the general rule is the civil section of the first-instance court (“tribunal de instancia”), unless the law assigns the matter to another section, such as the commercial section or the family section, or to the justice of the peace. The parties cannot choose the type of court and the judge checks on their own initiative whether the matter falls to them. The branch of the courts The courts are divided into branches according to subject matter. The civil branch, which includes commercial matters, resolves disputes about contracts, debts, property, tenancies, family, inheritance or compensation for damage. The employment branch resolves employment and Social Security disputes. The administrative branch reviews the decisions of public authorities and resolves most claims for compensation against them. And the criminal branch tries criminal offences, although compensation for the damage can be claimed in the same proceedings. If a civil court receives a matter that belongs to another branch, it declines to decide it and indicates which courts to go to. Within civil matters In civil matters, depending on the subject matter and the amount at stake, the matter falls to one of these types of court: The civil section of the first-instance court (“tribunal de instancia”), which is the general rule and deals with everything the law does not assign elsewhere, such as debts, contracts, tenancies, condominium matters (“propiedad horizontal”), inheritance or compensation for damage. Also the insolvency proceedings of private individuals who are not in business. In small judicial districts, that role is performed by the single section, which combines civil matters and criminal investigation. The commercial section, for the insolvency proceedings of companies and business owners, company law disputes, unfair competition, trade marks, patents and other industrial and intellectual property rights, advertising, transport and maritime law, among other matters. The family, children and capacity section, where there is one, for divorces, the custody of and maintenance for children or support measures for people with disabilities. Where there is none, these matters are dealt with by the civil section. The section for violence against women, which also deals with the divorce and the children's matters of a couple when criminal proceedings for gender-based violence against the woman are under way. The justice of the peace, in municipalities where no first-instance court has its seat, for civil matters of up to 150 euros, except for certain matters excluded by law, such as evictions. Why getting it right matters The type of court does not depend on what the parties agree. The judge checks it on their own initiative as soon as the problem comes to light and, if the matter does not fall to them, does not go on to decide it. If the error is discovered on appeal, what has been done is annulled and everything has to start again before the correct court, with the time and money lost. The amount at stake also determines the type of proceedings, ordinary proceedings (“juicio ordinario”) or the “juicio verbal” (the simplified procedure), but, except in the case of the justice of the peace, it does not change the type of court. In which city to sue is a different question, territorial jurisdiction, which has its own rules.