Tribunal Supremo. Sala de lo Civil; 2019-09-11; ATS 8810/2019
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:ES:TS:2019:8810A
Date: 2019-09-11
Subject matter: Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Spain

82019ES0911(52)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case regards a question of admissibility of a cassation appeal brought before the Tribunal Supremo (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’).
The Juzgado de Primera Instancia n.º 2 de Aoiz (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) issued an order pursuant to Article 20(3) of the Ley de Asistencia Jurídica (1) which was later appealed by the party concerned (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’). The appeal, as well as the request for a cassation appeal due to an alleged infringement of procedural rules, was held inadmissible.
The legal representative of the plaintiff filed a complaint with the Supreme Court on the grounds that the dismissed appeal and request for cassation appeal should have been admitted due to an alleged infringement of procedural rules.
The Supreme Court recalled that a cassation appeal may be filed only in special cases strictly enumerated by national law. According to Article 477(2) of the LEC (2), there are certain judicial decisions which are excluded from the cassation appeal completely, and this enumeration also includes the order in question. The LEC allows only limited judgments issued in the second instance to be reviewed under cassation appeal. With regards to these decisions, the exception of their admissibility for a cassation appeal would be a cassation appeal on a matter of law related to proceedings for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments pursuant to the Brussels Convention (3), the Lugano Convention (4), the Brussels I Regulation (5) or any other legal instrument of a similar nature.
Moreover, Article 20 of the Ley de Asistencia Jurídica which was the basis for the order under appeal clearly provides that order issued on its basis cannot be the subject of any appeal. The decision of the Court of First Instance must be upheld, and the appeal cannot be admitted.
The Supreme Court further recalled that neither were constitutional rights (e.g. the right to justice) affected by not admitting the appeal since there is no constitutionally protected right to lodge an appeal on the grounds of a procedural violation. The right to effective judicial protection is satisfied with the possibility of accessing courts and obtaining a decision based on law. The constitutional right to justice is satisfied with a ruling on the inadmissibility of an appeal. Conversely, the appeal must always fulfil the admissibility requirements laid down by legislation and it is on consideration of the Supreme Court whether the requirements were fulfilled or not.
Therefore, the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint against inadmissibility of the cassation appeal as substantially unfounded.
(1) Ley de Asistencia Jurídica (Legal Aid Act).
(2) Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (LEC) (Code of Civil Procedure).
(3) Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
(4) Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters – Done at Lugano on 16 September 1988.
(5) Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.