SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jose Piñeiro, Natàlia Ros and Laura Martín, Cases & Lacambra
7.2 Procedural Steps As mentioned in 7.1. Governing Rules , the principle of party autonomy will govern the arbitration procedure, respecting the principles of due process and equal treatment in all cases. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators Spanish national law does not contain a list of arbitra - tors’ duties and powers. However, they include the following. • Duties: (a) they must act in a fair and impartial manner, treating both parties equally; (b) their performance has to fall within the estab - lished legal or contractual framework; and (c) they must keep the procedure confidential. • Powers: (a) the power to decide on their own competence; and (b) the power to adopt interim reliefs. It should be pointed out that the Spanish Arbitration Club has approved the Code of Best Practice, which includes recommendations regarding the arbitrators’ duties. 7.4 Legal Representatives The SAA does not include legal provisions that pro - vide for particular qualifications or other requirements for legal representatives, beyond requiring that the representative have sufficient powers to act as such. 8. Evidence 8.1 Collection and Submission of Evidence As regards the collection and submission of evidence at the pleading stage and at the hearing in the Spanish jurisdiction, it should be noted that the parties are free to choose the applicable rules of evidence, subject to the requirements adopted by the arbitration institution where the arbitration takes place. Thus, as for the existence of specific rules applicable to the different types of evidence, the arbitrator may order the disclosure of documents and the appear - ance of witnesses. They may even request the assis -
According to Article 722 of the Spanish Procedural Law, whoever can prove to be a party to any judicial or arbitration proceedings being conducted in a foreign country can request interim measures in Spain, except in the cases where the main matter at issue should lie solely within the competence of Spanish courts. Although the SAA does not regulate the use of emer - gency arbitrators, the Madrid International Arbitration Center’s Arbitration Rules include a specific procedure for the request of urgent interim measures by any of the parties. In this sense, the decision of the emergency arbitra - tors will be binding for the parties and will cease to be binding if the court terminates the request for emer - gency arbitration or if the request for arbitration has not been filed within the established time limit, among other reasons. In this regard, the arbitrators of the main proceedings will have the ability to modify, suspend or revoke the decision of the emergency arbitrator, provided that one of the parties requests it. 6.3 Security for Costs When interim relief is requested in an arbitration pro - cedure, the arbitrators can, in accordance with Article 23 of the SAA, require the requesting party to pay a bond to ensure that they can repay the damages that the requested measure could potentially cause to the other party.
7. Procedure 7.1 Governing Rules
In Spain, the principle of party autonomy, regulated in Article 25.1 of the SAA, governs the arbitration pro - cedure. Therefore, the only mandatory rule that governs the arbitration procedure is respect for due process rights (ie, the right to be heard and the equal treatment and contradiction of the parties).
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