Special Information Briefing COVID-19 (No. 5): Legal proceedings during the state of alarm

Royal Decree No. 463/2020, of 14 March, declaring the state of alarm for the management of the health crisis caused by COVID-19, provides for the suspension of procedural time limits, with some exceptions, as well as the limitation and prescription periods of any rights and actions, while this situation is ongoing.

As a result, the General Council of the Judiciary (“CGPJ”), the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, together with other public bodies responsible for the administration of justice, have adopted a series of measures, which are summarized below.

GENERAL RULES APPLICABLE TO ORDINARY COURTS

The general rules are applicable to all legal proceedings, except those which cannot be postponed (the details of which are provided in the following section):

• Hearings and other legal proceedings are suspended (with several exceptions), affecting both those already scheduled for hearing, which will not be held, and new proceedings, which will not be listed for hearing. Similarly, the procedural time limits relating to these proceedings are suspended.
• Calculation of all procedural time limits is interrupted.

The entire content of the Information Briefing can be found in the PDF.