New International Legal Cooperation Law 29/2015
August 20, 2015 saw the entry into force of Law 29/2015, of July 30, 2015, on international legal cooperation in civil matters, which entails an important new development in Spanish procedural law given that until now there was no domestic legislation establishing an international legal cooperation regime.
The new Law, which will apply in civil and commercial matters, takes a broad and favorable approach to international legal cooperation, even in the absence of reciprocity, although it envisages the possibility of refusal in cases of a repeated lack of cooperation or a legal prohibition on providing it.
The Law regulates such issues as:
- The service of judicial and extrajudicial documents.
- The taking of evidence.
- Proof of foreign law.
- Information on foreign law.
- Lis pendens and related actions.
- As well as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and public documents and the exequatur procedure, repealing articles 951 to 958 of the 1881 Civil Procedure Law, designing a new process adapted to current legal doctrine and to recent legislative developments, the latter being one of the key aspects of the law.
Our Litigation and Arbitration specialists have analyzed the main aspects and new features included in Law 29/2015 in this commentary available on our website.
Garrigues Litigation and Arbitration Department