SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alfonso López-Ibor, Pablo Henriquez de Luna, Virginia Jover and Carmen Serrano, López-Ibor DPM
7.5 Expert Testimony Expert testimony is permitted in civil trials. As a gen- eral rule and subject to exceptions, a written expert report must be produced in advance and included with the claim or the opposition. At the trial, the author of the report can and will usually appear before the court in order to explain its contents and provide clarifications. Either of the parties may ask the court if they can appoint an independent expert. The request will be accepted if the court considers the testimony to be useful and pertinent to the matter under decision. If this is the case, the petitioner will bear the cost of the expert testimony, unless the court dismisses the other party’s claims and orders it to pay all costs. Moreover, the court may seek expert testimony or guidance ex officio in certain proceedings, such as filiation, maternity, paternity, legal capacity or matri- monial proceedings. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public Civil hearings are usually open to the public, although this may be restricted to protect public order, funda- mental rights, the interests of minors or the parties’ private life (Section 138 SCPA). This is usually agreed in highly publicised cases, such as the well-known La Manada case, which involved the trial of a gang rape of an 18-year-old woman dur- ing the San Fermín festival in Pamplona in July 2016. In such cases, the hearings are filmed and recorded but not transcribed. The content of the recordings is generally not released to the public. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The level of intervention by a judge depends on the stage of the proceedings. At the preliminary hearing, the judge leads the law- yers from one stage to another (Sections 414 and 429 SCPA).
At a later date, parties are summoned to attend a preliminary hearing. During this stage the parties may reach an agreement. If the dispute persists, the preliminary hearing contin- ues, and the parties will normally ratify the content of their respective statements. The court will then exam- ine if there are any circumstances which may prevent the proceedings from being validly conducted, for example: • the res judicata effect; • additional or clarifying submissions to those made in their written proposals; and • the existence of any legal defect in the way the claim or the statement of defence has been filed. During the preliminary hearing, the parties may also propose additional evidence to include in their respec- tive statements, as well as challenge the admission of evidence proposed by the opponent party. The court will then determine the date the trial will be held. The trial begins by hearing the parties and contin- ues with the taking of evidence admitted, chiefly the examination of witnesses. During the taking of evi- dence, the parties and the experts of the reports will be questioned and will also be allowed to produce any images or videos that were previously approved by the court. Lastly, the parties present their conclusions orally. The judgment is subsequently issued in writing. 7.2 Case Management Hearings Spanish law contains no provisions for case manage- ment hearings. 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases Jury trials are not available in civil cases conducted before Spanish courts. 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence Evidence must be relevant and related to the subject matter of the dispute, and must have been obtained while respecting the counterparty’s fundamental rights. In addition, evidence must be presented at the appropriate procedural stages.
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