Paseo de Recoletos 13, 28004 Madrid
Telf: (34) 91 523 25 93 Fax: (34) 91 532 78 36
informacion@cgae.es
Consejo General de la Abogacía Española
Departamento Jurídico
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE REPORT ON “THE PRACTICE
OF THE PROFESSION OF LAWYER IN SPAIN BY
FOREIGNERS”
1
The purpose of this document is that the people in charge of processing the
applications for membership of the different Spanish Bar Associations and those
interested will rapidly have a clear idea of the most important aspects to be borne in
mind regarding the practice of the profession of lawyer in Spain by foreigners.
1) NATIONALS OF A MEMBER STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
OR THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (EEA)
Citizens of EU or EEA Member States may opt between two forms of practice:
A)
PERMANENT PRACTICE (p. 2)
In their turn, the Bar Associations may have to deal with two cases:
1)
Applicants are in their home-countries the equivalent of “abogado”
(lawyer) in Spain (p. 2)
In this case, they will have two options:
a) Practice under the home-country professional title (p. 3)
This applies to those who already exercise the law profession in their home-country
while being registered in their pertinent law association. Applicants in this situation who
chose this way of practicing in Spain will, of necessity, have to be registered (not
become members) in a Spanish Bar Association, where they will be indicated as
“registered lawyers” in the pertinent list of registered lawyers while they shall be
designated a registration number. When practicing the profession they shall always be
required to do so with the express mention of their professional qualification (
solicitor,
avvocato, Rechtsanwalt, and so forth) and, in certain cases they shall have to practice in
conjunction with a Spanish lawyer (p. 6).
The maximum timeframe for the Governing Body of the Bar Association to decide
whether or not to register the applicant is two months. Should no decision have been
notified after these two months, the registration shall be considered to be admitted (p.
5).
1 The references that are indicated beside the page numbers refer to the main document, in which you will
find detailed information on the paperwork involved, concepts, addresses and so forth.
Paseo de Recoletos 13, 28004 Madrid
Telf: (34) 91 523 25 93 Fax: (34) 91 532 78 36
informacion@cgae.es
Consejo General de la Abogacía Española
Departamento Jurídico
It is very important that within fifteen of the registration, the Bar Association in
question should notify said registration to the General Council of Spanish Bar
Associations while specifying the competent authority of the applicant's home Member
State (p. 5). In those Autonomous Regions where an Autonomous Regional Council of
Bar Associations is incorporated, the Bar Association in question shall send the
notification of a registration to its Autonomous Regional Council, which shall then send
said notification to the General Council of Spanish Bar Associations.
Three years after registration, Community lawyers may apply for their
incorporation as a Spanish lawyer into the pertinent Bar Association (p. 7). To do this,
in addition to complying with the pertinent requirements, they shall have to demonstrate
that they have been effectively practicing law on a regular basis in Spain for at least said
three years.
b) Application for the recognition of the professional qualification of lawyer
and subsequent Bar membership (p. 8)
The authority for the recognition of a professional qualification of lawyer coming
from the EU or the EEA is the Spanish Ministry of Justice. To become a member of a
Bar Association, applicants shall submit the pertinent certificate issued by said Ministry
verifying Spanish recognition of the professional qualification of lawyer.
We refer readers to page 8 of the main document where two other circumstances
are indicated which, from their content, could imply that such circumstances are not
applicable to the profession of lawyer.
2)
Applicants who only have the equivalent of a law degree in their home-
country (p. 11)
Applicants shall only be entitled to join a Bar Association if they have previously
had their university qualification harmonised. The authority for the harmonisation of the
qualification is the Spanish Ministry of Education. The only valid harmonisation to be
entitled to become a member of a Spanish Bar Association shall be that applied to
qualifications categorised as official university qualifications. Therefore, and this has to
be pointed out in particular, the decision made by the Ministry that is submitted with the
application for membership shall make express reference to the qualification of law
degree.
We would also like to draw your attention to the following: Section 31.b) of the
Spanish General Lawyers' Statute sets forth that the general duty of a lawyer is “To
pursue his activity as a self-employed lawyer or as a salaried lawyer in another firm or
company in the area of the Bar Association under whose jurisdiction he is established
and under which he practices his profession habitually”. Cases have been detected
where a very large number of lawyers who had had their law degrees harmonised and
Paseo de Recoletos 13, 28004 Madrid
Telf: (34) 91 523 25 93 Fax: (34) 91 532 78 36
informacion@cgae.es
Consejo General de la Abogacía Española
Departamento Jurídico
had applied for registration in Spanish Bar Associations, who all indicated the same
domicile of office but who later indicated a domicile in their home-countries for the
purpose of notifications. This practice could amount to fraud on the part of certain
people who, in order to avoid the specific paperwork and academic qualifications
required to join a Bar Association in their own countries, avail of the possibility offered
to them by Community law of joining a Bar Association in a third country and
subsequently they apply there for their registration as Spanish lawyers. Then they avail
of the manner indicated in the foregoing paragraph to end up becoming the equivalent
of a lawyer in their home-countries.
The fraudulent use of a rule created to allow free
movement and recognition of degrees and qualifications within the European Union
cannot be permitted.
The possibility of membership of a Bar Association as “non-resident" lawyer
(whether practicing or not) refers to people who are members of a Spanish Bar
Association, but who are also members of another Spanish Bar Association, in which
area they normally practice law.
Membership as “non-resident” shall not be granted to
somebody who is not registered as a member of another Spanish Bar Association
beforehand: professional domiciles abroad shall therefore not qualify.
B)
OCCASIONAL PRACTICE (p. 14)
This would be the case of those who practice law on a permanent basis in another
EU or EEA Member State and occasionally travel to Spain to pursue any of the
following activities: consultation, legal advice or representation of a client in court.
These visiting lawyers shall report to the Bar Association corresponding to the area in
which they wish to render their services and address a letter to the dean of the
Governing Body pursuant to the requirements set forth in section 5 of Royal Decree RD
607/1986. The Bar Association shall send a communiqué notifying the intended activity
to a) the judge or chief justice before whom practice is intended and b) the General
Council of Spanish Bar Associations.
No kind of membership or registration is required therefore the payment of a
membership fee is not necessary.
These visiting lawyers may not open a firm in Spain. To practice before courts,
tribunals and public institutions, to assist persons in custody or prisoners and to
communicate with prisoners and convicts, they shall act in conjunction with a lawyer
who is a member of a Spanish Bar Association (see p.16).
Paseo de Recoletos 13, 28004 Madrid
Telf: (34) 91 523 25 93 Fax: (34) 91 532 78 36
informacion@cgae.es
Consejo General de la Abogacía Española
Departamento Jurídico
2) THIRD-COUNTRIES NATIONALS (p.17)
In these cases, to gain admission to the profession of lawyer in Spain, there are
three conditions to be complied with:
1)
Harmonisation of the qualification obtained in the home-country (p.17): The
competent authority is the Spanish Ministry of Education. Obviously, those who have
earned their qualification directly from a Spanish university are exempt from this step.
We reiterate what is indicated above: the only valid harmonisation shall be that applied
to qualifications categorised as official university qualifications.
2)
Dispensation from the Spanish nationality requirement (p.19): this has to be
done at the Spanish Ministry of Justice. We would point out that certain people are
exempt from this step: family members of either EU or EEA citizens that are
accompanying or meeting up with them, particularly their spouse or civil partner, their
direct descendents or those of their spouse or civil partner (who are over the age of 21
and depend on them) and their direct ascendants, or those of their spouse or civil partner
(who depend on them).
3)
Registration in a Spanish Bar Association (p. 20): When applicants have
completed the foregoing steps, they shall apply for membership of the Bar association
corresponding to the area in which they establish their only or main professional
domicile (the same steps). They may become members as practicing or non-practicing
lawyers, and resident or non-resident (if they are already members of another Spanish
Bar Association), since they shall be considered as lawyers for all purposes.
APR
