The new by-laws of the Spanish Legal Profession approved

Spanish Council of Ministers has approved the Royal Decree which contains as its sole article the new by-laws of the Spanish Legal Profession

The document updates the regulations governing the profession and provides a modern and effective legislative framework that will replace the one in force since 2001.

At the proposal of the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, the new by-laws regulate for the first time such important aspects for the practice of the profession as the free provision of services throughout the national and European territory, such as the right to professional secrecy, which it protects and reinforces, as well as the express recognition of the right to file complaints before the judiciary when there are repeated unjustified delays in the scheduling of hearings in courts and tribunals.

The president of the General Council, Victoria Ortega, highlighted “the importance of having a new regulatory framework adapted to the 21st century and which places the Spanish legal profession at the forefront of European professional services, consolidating professional secrecy and the central position of the legal profession in the functioning of the justice system.”

The text that the Council of Ministers has now passed is essentially the one approved by the General Council of Spanish Lawyers in 2013 and regulates very specific aspects such as transparency in the management and operation of the Councils and Bar Associations and the obligation to adapt access to information for professionals and citizens through the appropriate technological means. Several years ahead of the current situation caused by the pandemic, the by-laws even include the provision of services through telematic means.

The new by-laws will be effective 1 July.

In the picture, Enrique Sanz Fernández-Lomana, president of  Mutualidad de la Abogacía y president of the Committee that worded the base text for the new by-laws (right), Victoria Ortega, president of the General Council of Spanish Lawyers (centre) and José María Alonso, vice president of the GCSL (CGAE) and dean of the Madrid Bar Association (left).