The Spanish Constitution and the Hierarchy of the Legal System

The Spanish Constitution (EC)

The Spanish Constitution (EC) is the supreme norm that regulates the various standards relating to areas, categories, specific subjects, and skills. Its structure is as follows:

• Preliminary Title
• Title I: Fundamental Rights and Duties: The Spanish and foreigners, rights and freedoms, rights and duties of citizens.
• Title II: The Crown.
• Title III: The Parliament (Cortes Generales).
• Title IV: The Government and Administration.
• Title V: Relations between the Government and Parliament.
• Title VI: The Judiciary.
• Title VII: Economy and Finance.
• Title VIII: The Territorial Organisation of the State.
• Title IX: The Constitutional Court.
• Title X: Constitutional Reform.
• Additional, transitional, repeal, and final provisions.

The Legal System and Inter-normative Relationships

The legal system is a comprehensive framework that includes all the legal rules of a state. It is a set of norms and categories that are binding and regulate the political and legal system of a country. The legal system, composed of these norms, has several key features:

Features of the Legal System

• It is a set of interactive elements that form a cohesive whole, as the norms are predetermined by structural rules.
• It is a dynamic system because its elements are in constant change and movement.
• It is an open system because it is connected to social reality.
• It is a self-regulating system: some rules prescribe expected behaviors, while others describe how to act when the former are breached. In essence, some rules dictate what we must do, and others dictate the consequences for failing to do so.
• It is intended as a complete system, capable of providing a response to any legal problem that may arise.

Mechanisms for Ordering Norms

The legal system has mechanisms for ordering its norms and defining how they relate to each other.

1. The Principle of Hierarchy

   This criterion provides a vertical view of the norms, ordering them from top to bottom. This approach subordinates some rules to others depending on their rank.

   The norms are ranked on a scale where each rule has a specific rank. Lower-ranking norms must strictly respect the content of higher-ranking ones. In a hierarchically organized legal system, a higher-ranking norm can modify, repeal, or otherwise affect the content of a lower-ranking norm, but a lower-ranking norm cannot alter a higher-ranking one.

   This principle works well within a single legal system. For example, a law is superior to a regulation, and the Constitution is superior to a law. The problem arises when navigating between different legal systems.

   Main Hierarchical Levels

   There are three main levels in the Spanish legal system:

   1. The Spanish Constitution (EC)
   2. Norms with the force of law (state and regional)
   3. Regulations