How long do civil proceedings take?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

There is no fixed duration. The law sets time limits for most of the steps, which added together would come to a few months, but what really determines how long a case takes is the court's workload, what is in dispute and what the parties do. A defended case can take more than a year at first instance alone and, if there is an appeal, the time taken by the “Audiencia Provincial”, the provincial appeal court, has to be added. The “Consejo General del Poder Judicial”, Spain's General Council of the Judiciary, publishes each year the estimated average duration of matters in each type of court, including in Catalonia, which serves as a guide but does not tell you how long a particular case will take. The statutory time limits Before bringing a claim, you have to allow for the time taken by the attempt to reach an agreement that the law generally requires. After that, the law sets these main time limits: To file a defence to the claim, twenty working days in ordinary proceedings (“juicio ordinario”) and ten in the “juicio verbal” (the simplified procedure). In ordinary proceedings, the preliminary hearing (“audiencia previa”) must be held within twenty days of being called and the trial within the month following the preliminary hearing. In the simplified procedure, the hearing, if the judge considers it necessary, must be held within a maximum of one month. To give judgment, twenty days from the trial in ordinary proceedings and ten from the hearing in the simplified procedure. Working days do not include Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, the month of August or the days from 24 December to 6 January. There are also steps for which the law does not set a fixed time limit, such as the admission of the claim. Months can go by between one step and the next, depending on each court's diary. What makes it longer and what makes it shorter The things that most often make civil proceedings longer are these: The court's workload, which varies greatly from one court to another. Failure to find the defendant to serve the claim, so that he or she has to be traced or served by notice by publication (“edictos”), which are official notices. Evidence that takes time, such as expert reports or the testimony of people who live in another city. Postponement of the preliminary hearing, the trial or the hearing, for example because someone who has to take part is ill. Appeals. If there is an appeal, the provincial appeal court decides and, in some matters, a cassation appeal may then still be brought before the “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, or, if it is based on Catalan civil law, before the “Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña”, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. What shortens it is an agreement, which can be reached at any time, including at the preliminary hearing or at the start of the hearing. It is also quicker when the judge considers that the documents are enough and gives judgment without a trial or without a hearing. Where to find average times The General Council of the Judiciary publishes each year an estimate of how long matters concluded in each type of court take on average, with figures for Spain as a whole and for each autonomous community, including Catalonia. These are averages for all matters, simple and complex, defended or not, so they are useful for comparison, but not for calculating how long a particular case will take. For that, it is best to ask your lawyer, who knows the pace of the court handling the case and can estimate how long it will take, although nobody can guarantee a date.