Spain · Overview
The legal system of Spain
A civil-law system built on the 1978 Constitution and codified law, with a powerful Constitutional Court and a strongly decentralised structure of autonomous communities. An EU and eurozone member whose regional parliaments hold significant legislative powers.
Legal tradition
Spain belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system built on the 1978 Constitution and codified law, with a powerful Constitutional Court and a strongly decentralised structure of autonomous communities. An EU and eurozone member whose regional parliaments hold significant legislative powers.
How power is divided
A constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state, an executive led by the President of the Government, a bicameral parliament and an independent judiciary, overlaid by extensive regional self-government.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- The 1978 constitution, supreme over all other norms.
- EU law
- Directly applicable and, in its field, paramount.
- Statutes of the Cortes
- Organic and ordinary laws, plus autonomous-community legislation.
- Codes
- The Civil Code, Commercial Code, Penal Code and procedural codes.
The legal profession
Abogados belong to local bar associations (colegios de abogados); procuradores represent parties procedurally and notaries authenticate deeds and company acts.
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