Spanish Legal Norms: Structure and Conflict Resolution

1. Norm Ordination: Static Perspective

The Principle of Norm Hierarchy

According to Article 9.3 of the Constitution, which guarantees the principle of legality and the hierarchy of norms, this is reflected in Article 3.2 of the Statute, Article 85.1 (regarding collective agreements), and Article 3.4 of the Statute (concerning uses and customs).

Principle of Primacy (Article 95)

In Spain, the Constitution allows international treaties to be concluded only when they do not contradict the Constitution. Regarding domestic law, both the Constitution and international legislation hold superior hierarchy over internal regulations.

2. Norm Ordination: Dynamic Perspective

Non-Confrontational Concurrency

Complementarity and Minimum Standards

This refers to minimum limits set by a norm, below which the autonomy of an inferior norm or individual will can act freely (Article 3.3 of the Statute). This is the principle of complementarity. Complementarity, or the joint effect of rules, occurs when a primary disposition partially declares certain aspects of a matter, and its object of regulation refers or remits to another aspect to complete its regulation.

Suppletory Principle

The suppletory principle applies when a primary norm or a norm with difficult prescriptive content is absent or defective. This arrangement applies only in the absence or defect of the primary regulation, or, of course, other different arrangements.

Remission (Ex Novo)

With this technique, the superior rule waives its right to regulate a specific matter.

Concurrent Conflict: The Most Favorable Rule

In the competition of rules of the same rank, when simultaneous application of two provisions from different sources is impossible, one must be chosen. Under Article 3.3 of the Statute, conflicts arising between two or more provisions of state and labor standards are resolved by applying the most favorable rule to the worker. There are three possibilities:

• Comparison of accumulation or analytical approach.
• Global comparison criterion (conglobamento).
• Institutional comparison.

The comparison must be done by regulatory blocks, each having its own meaning, allowing for effective comparison and preventing the loss of the context of legal mandates. While doctrine advocates institutional comparison, jurisprudence often uses the global comparison or conglobamento criterion.