SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alfonso López-Ibor, Pablo Henriquez de Luna, Virginia Jover and Pedro Echeguren, Lopez-Ibor DPM
10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments See 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litiga- tion . In addition, the Supreme Court has recently issued an instruction, dated July 2023, on the maximum number of pages of the appeal (25 pages) and other formal requirements. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal Appeals must be filed within 20 working days of notice of the unfavourable ruling. The challenge is filed in written form before the provincial court, after which the counterparty will be granted ten working days to submit its opposition to the statement. Once both allegations have been duly submit- ted, the case must be resolved by the provincial court. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal The provincial court will only consider the issues raised by the parties in their respective state- ments of challenge and opposition. Normally, new evidence is not admitted by the appeal court. Nevertheless, according to Sec- tion 460.2 of the SCPA, the parties can seek: • any evidence that was unduly rejected for admission by the first instance court, as long as the decision dismissing such evidence was appealed or challenged at the hearing in the first instance; • any evidence proposed and admitted by the first instance court which was not finally presented, for reasons not attributable to the applicant; and • any evidence referring to relevant facts for the decision of the case that may have occurred after the hearing took place, as long as the
party can prove it became aware of such evidence subsequently. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal The filing of an appeal is subject to a deposit of EUR50, which is reimbursed to the party in the event the challenge is upheld in part or in full. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing The provincial court may confirm, dismiss or reverse, either partially or fully, the judgment issued by the first instance court. The judgment issued by the appeal court cannot be more harm- ful to the appellant than the judgment issued by the first instance court. 11. Costs 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation According to Section 394 of the SCPA, in declar- atory proceedings, the costs that arise during the proceedings will be borne by the party whose claims have been rejected, unless the court considers that there are reasons to decide otherwise. These reasons may include a legal or factual complexity of the case. The costs the losing party has to bear are court agents’, lawyers’ and experts’ fees (limited to one third of the amount in dispute, unless the losing party’s conduct is deemed imprudent, in which case the aforementioned limit does not apply). Expenses for copies of documentation, judicial notifications, faxes or notices may also be included.
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