SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Iñigo Igartua Arregui, Eduardo Gómez de la Cruz, Andrea Díez de Uré and Jesús Urriza Rodríguez, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
action, respectively. Also, see 1.1 Current Framework for Private Antitrust Litigation in the context of the applicable regime depending on whether the infringe - ment took place before or after the transposition of the Damages Directive.
such as considering the relevant facts as admitted, or may impose fines. 6.2 Legal Professional Privilege Legal professional privilege is expressly protected in Spanish civil procedure. When ordering the disclo - sure of evidence, the court must give full effect to the rules of confidentiality governing communications between lawyer and client, as well as any other appli - cable secrecy obligations. 6.3 Leniency and Settlement Agreements Leniency statements and settlement submissions made to competition authorities are subject to special protection from disclosure. The court may never order the disclosure of leniency statements or settlement submissions (as defined in the relevant competition law) at any stage of the proceedings. If a party requests access to evidence to verify wheth - er it falls within the protected categories, the court may, with the assistance of the competition authority, review the material, but will not allow access to the parties or third parties. Any evidence obtained in viola - tion of these restrictions is inadmissible in actions for damages arising from competition law infringements. 7. Witness and Expert Opinions 7.1 Witness Procedure The process for hearing witnesses is governed by the LEC. Any party may request the testimony of individuals who have knowledge of disputed facts relevant to the case. The following steps and guarantees apply. • Proposal and designation – parties must propose their witnesses, specifying their identity, profession and address, or any other identifying information that allows for their citation (Article 362). • Limitation – there is no strict limit to the number of witnesses, but the costs for more than three wit - nesses per disputed fact are borne by the propos - ing party. The court may also dispense with further testimony if it deems the matter sufficiently clarified (Article 363).
6. Disclosure/Discovery 6.1 Disclosure/Discovery Procedure
In actions for damages arising from anti-competitive practices, Spanish civil procedure provides a specific regime for the disclosure of documents, regulated in Article 283 bis LEC, which closely follows Article 5 of the Damages Directive. Upon a reasoned request by a claimant, which must include reasonably available facts and evidence suf - ficient to justify the viability of the action, the court may order the defendant or a third party to disclose relevant evidence in their possession. The court may also, at the request of the defendant, order the claim - ant or a third party to disclose relevant evidence. The request must be as specific and limited as pos - sible, both in terms of the pieces or categories of evidence sought, and the court will assess propor - tionality, taking into account the legitimate interests of all parties and third parties, the scope and cost of disclosure, and the presence of confidential informa - tion. The court may also adopt measures to protect confidentiality, such as redacting sensitive passages, holding hearings in camera, or limiting access to cer - tain persons. The procedure is adversarial. The party against whom disclosure is sought is given the opportunity to be heard, and a hearing is held within ten days. The court will decide by means of an order ( auto ), which is sub - ject to appeal. If the order is made prior to the filing of the main claim, the claimant must file the claim within 20 days of the completion of the disclosure; other - wise, the court may order the return of the disclosed materials and prohibit their use in other proceedings. If a party unjustifiably refuses to comply with a dis - closure order, the court may draw adverse inferences,
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