SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Amparo Arbáizar, Arbáizar Abogados
The Spanish court considers it necessary to stay pro ‑ ceedings in the interest of the proper administration of justice 2. The Spanish court may order the continuation of proceedings at any time at the instance of a party and following a report from the Public Prosecutor’s Office when any of the following circumstances apply: Should the foreign court have declared it has no juris ‑ diction, or should it, at the request of any of the par ‑ ties, have failed to pronounce on its own jurisdiction; Should the proceedings before the court of the other State have been suspended or finalised without issu ‑ ing a resolution; Should it be considered unlikely that the proceedings before the court of the other State will be concluded within a reasonable time; Should the continuation of proceedings be considered necessary for the proper administration of justice; Should it be understood that the final judgement that may eventually be handed down will not be suscep ‑ tible to being recognised and, where appropriate, enforced in Spain? 3. The Spanish court shall end proceedings and close the case if the proceedings before the other State’s court have been concluded with a decision suscep ‑ tible of recognition and, where appropriate, enforce ‑ ment in Spain.” Lis pendens is regulated in Article 20 of Council Regu ‑ lation 2019/1111 and is applicable between EU mem ‑ ber states, and states the following. “Where proceedings relating to divorce, legal separa ‑ tion or marriage annulment between the same par ‑ ties are instituted before courts of different Member States, the court second seised shall of its own motion stay its proceedings until such time as the jurisdiction of the court first seised is established.
Where the jurisdiction of the court first seised is estab ‑ lished, the court second seised shall decline jurisdic ‑ tion in favour of the court first seised. In that case, the party who instituted proceedings before the court second seised may bring those pro ‑ ceedings before the court first seised.”
2. Financial Proceedings 2.1 Choice of Jurisdiction in Financial Proceedings
Regarding Article 3 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the jurisdiction, appli ‑ cable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and co-operation in matters relating to maintenance obligations in member states, jurisdiction shall lie with: • the court where the defendant is habitually resi ‑ dent; • the court where the creditor is habitually resident; • the court that, according to its own law, has juris ‑ diction to entertain proceedings concerning the status of a person if the matter relating to mainte ‑ nance is ancillary to those proceedings unless that jurisdiction is based solely on the nationality of one of the parties; or • the court that, according to its own law, has jurisdiction to entertain proceedings concerning parental responsibility if the matter relating to main ‑ tenance is ancillary to those proceedings unless that jurisdiction is based solely on the nationality of one of the parties. Article 22 quáter (f) of the Spanish Law on Judicial Power regulates the international jurisdiction of the Spanish courts on maintenance obligations, as set out in Article 3 of the “Maintenance Regulation”. Spain retains the residual jurisdiction on maintenance obligations when: • the petitioner or the respondent is habitually resi ‑ dent in Spain; and • the Spanish courts have jurisdiction concerning a person’s status or parental responsibility, and the
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