Which court has territorial jurisdiction over a civil claim?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The general rule is to sue in the place where the defendant lives or, if it is a company, where it has its registered office. But the law sets a different place in many cases, for example the place where the property is located in disputes about a property, a tenancy or the owners' association (“comunidad de propietarios”), or the deceased's last domicile in inheritance disputes. Anyone claiming as a consumer against a business can choose the court for their own domicile. If you are sued in the wrong place, you can dispute it with the “declinatoria”, a pleading challenging the court's jurisdiction that must be filed within the first ten days of the time allowed for filing a defence. The general rule The claim is filed, in principle, in the court for the defendant's domicile. Business owners and professionals can also be sued, in matters relating to their activity, in the place where they carry it on. Companies can be sued at their registered office or in the place where the legal relationship arose or where it is to take effect, if they have an establishment open to the public or a representative there. If there are several defendants who live in different places, the claimant can choose the domicile of any one of them. If the defendant has neither a domicile nor a residence in Spain, the law provides other options and, as a last resort, allows the claim to be brought at the claimant's domicile. First, however, it must be checked whether the Spanish courts can hear the case under European or international rules. Cases in which the law sets the place In these cases, among others, the law designates the court and the parties cannot agree on a different one: Disputes about the ownership of or other rights over a property, those about tenancies and evictions and those about condominium matters (“propiedad horizontal”) go to the court for the place where the property is located. Inheritance disputes go to the court for the deceased's last domicile. If the deceased lived abroad, they go to the court for their last domicile in Spain or for the place where most of their assets are located, at the claimant's choice. Claims for damage caused in a road traffic accident go to the court for the place where the damage was caused. Challenges to a company's resolutions go to the court for its registered office. Claims for attacks on honour, privacy or one's own image go to the court for the claimant's domicile. In insurance matters and instalment purchases, the claimant can also choose the domicile of the insured or of the buyer. And a consumer claiming against a business can choose between their own domicile and the one that applies to the business. Choice-of-court agreements and the challenge to jurisdiction Outside the cases in which the law sets the place, the parties can agree in the contract which courts they submit to. That agreement is not valid in consumer contracts, in standard-form contracts, meaning those whose terms are imposed by one of the parties, or in matters dealt with through the “juicio verbal” (the simplified procedure). If the defendant files a defence without disputing the place, they are generally deemed to accept it, except in the cases in which the law imposes the place, which the court checks of its own motion. To dispute it, the defendant must file the “declinatoria”, a pleading challenging the court's jurisdiction, within the first ten days of the time allowed for the defence. While it is being decided, the time for filing the defence and the proceedings are suspended. If the judge upholds it, the judge sends the case to the court with jurisdiction and the parties have ten days to appear before that court.