SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Xavier Moliner and Juan Martínez, Faus Moliner
safety expectations and, therefore, when deter - mining whether a product is defective or not. These cases should be evaluated on a case-by- case basis. 2.14 Rules for Payment of Costs in Product Liability Claims At the end of the proceedings, the costs of the proceedings are imposed on the party who has had all its pleas rejected, unless the court con - siders that the case posed serious de facto or de jure doubts. When the payment of costs is imposed on the party who has lost the case, that party shall pay all court fees and other incidental expenses, the fees of experts who have intervened in the proceedings, as well as the attorneys’ fees of the successful party, up to an amount that shall not exceed one-third of the total claimed in the proceedings for each of the litigants who have obtained such an award. However, this limitation shall not apply if the court declares the reckless - ness of the losing party. However, if the pleas were partially accepted or rejected, each party shall pay the costs gener - ated on its behalf, and half of the common costs, except when there are reasons to impose the payment thereof upon one of the parties due to reckless litigation. 2.15 Available Funding in Product Liability Claims Third-party funding is not forbidden in Spain. There is no specific provision that regulates this method, apart from Article 1255 of the Civil Code, which sets forth the following: “The con- tracting parties may establish any covenants, clauses and conditions deemed convenient, provided that they are not contrary to the laws, to the morals or to public policy” . Therefore, if it
is not contrary to the law, morals or public order, any agreement in this regard is valid. At the EU level, the European Parliament has launched the implementation of regulations on the private funding of litigious litigation. On 13 September 2022, the Parliament adopted a resolution with recommendations to the Com - mission on responsible private litigation funding. The Representative Actions Directive also con - tains provisions regarding third-party funding in relation to representative actions; however, this Directive has not yet been transposed in Spain. Attorneys’ professional fees shall be freely agreed upon between the client and the attor - ney in observance of the rules on ethics and free competition. Furthermore, lawyers are allowed to charge a success fee if they agree on such with their client. The form of payment of fees shall also be freely agreed upon, and may include payment of a percentage of the outcome of the claim. However, in any case, the client shall pay the minimum expenses that the lawyer may incur as a result of its designation. Moreover, parties providing evidence that they lack sufficient economic resources to litigate may be beneficiaries of legal aid if they comply with the requirements established in Law 1/10 January 1996, on legal aid. 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co- Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims Article 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1/2000 foresees the possibility of bringing collective legal proceedings and sets out that legally con - stituted associations of consumers and users shall have standing in court to defend the rights and interests of their members and of the asso-
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