Civil jurisdiction. Provincial courts. Provinces

Provincial Courts

They are judicial bodies with jurisdiction on civil and criminal matters in their province. In the civil matters they are spacialised in the knowledge on appeals of law against First instance decisions handed down by First Instance Courts in the province. In the criminal matters they have mainly the following comptetences: - They prosecute and sentence crimes, except those that law assignes to Criminal or other courts. - They are specialised in the knowledge of appeals against decisions handed down by Criminal and First Instance Courts in the province and of appeals that law determines against decisions handed down by Execution Courts in enforcement of criminal sanctions and their regime. They are integrated by different sections and they are placed in the provincial capital.

Civil procedure

Procedure that covers, on the one hand, contentious jurisdiction, that which makes decisions regarding affairs arising from a contraposition of the interest of both parties; and on the other, voluntary jurisdiction, that which a person demands declaration of a right without any form of opposition from another party.

Resolution

Determination made by judges or courts that can be in the form of an act, provision or sentence.

Sentence

Declaration of judgement and resolution by the judge.

The courts of general jurisdiction are organized into different areas of law because of the matter of the affairs they know. The areas of law are: criminal, civil, social and contentious-administrative proceedings.

Other organizational criterium is the territory, according to the territorial scope of their competences, which can be state, regional, supra provincial, provincial, infra provincial, judicial district or municipal.

Finally, the judicial bodies are classified in unipersonal (courts) and collegiate bodies (courts of law), according to the number of persons in charge.

The highest judicial body in all areas of law is the Supreme Court with jurisdiction in all Spanish territory. Another court with jurisdiction in all of Spain is the National High Court specialised in the knowledge of criminal, contentious and social matters over an autnomous community jurisdiction.

With jurisdiction in all the Spanish territory and out of the general jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court is specialised in the knowledge of all appeals on grounds of unconstitutionality of laws and norms, of appeals for legal protection due to violation of fundamental rights and of conflicts of jurisdiction between the State and the Autonomous Communities or among these ones.

Types of judicial bodies

The following judicial bodies have seat in Catalonia:

• High Court of Justice of Catalonia
• Provincial Courts
• Senior Courts
• First Instance and Preliminary Investigations Courts
• Family Courts and Status and Legal Capacity of Natural Persons Courts
• Mercantile Courts
• Courts of the Civil Status Register exclusively
• Courts on Violence against Women
• Juvenile Courts
• Execution Courts
• Criminal Courts
• Social Courts
• Court for Contentious Administrative Proceedings
• Magistrate's Courts