Understanding Legal Capacity in Civil Proceedings

Capacity and the Ability to Be Part of a Process (or Capacity to Stand Trial): Treatment Procedure

Ability to Be Part

Ability to be part is defined as the ability to be the holder of the legal relationship and procedure generated in the process and to assume the expectations and obligations inherent to it. It is a condition of release to the generality of the processes. Thus, the LEC (Civil Procedure Act) recognizes the ability of people to be a certain party, namely, to seek judicial protection and be able to see directly affected by a judicial decision. Capacity to be denied means you cannot apply for specific court guardianship.

It should be controlled to start the process for the issuance of a favorable ruling on the merits.

Article 6 of the LEC grants the capacity to be part to the following persons:

• Natural persons
• The unborn child, for all purposes that are favorable. This allocation is limited capacity for the sole purpose that is favorable, i.e., the right to be demanding but not claimed.
• Legal persons
• The balance-sheet assets or temporarily lacking the owner or whose owner is deprived of its powers of disposal and management. E.g., inheritance.
• Unincorporated entities to which the law grants the capacity to take part.
• The prosecution in respect of proceedings in which, according to law, has to intervene as a party. Its functions are, according to article 124.1 of the Spanish Constitution, defending the legality of public and social interest and the rights of citizens.
• Consumer groups or users affected by a harmful act when it is composed of individuals who are determined or readily determinable.
• Qualified entities in accordance with European Community regulations for the exercise of the injunction on behalf of collective interests and diffuse interests of consumers and users.

Article 6, paragraph 2, recognizes the capacity to take part, but only in the position of defendants, those entities that do not meet the requirements to become legal entities which are not recognized by law as substantive or procedural unincorporated ability to be recognized part.

Procedural Capability

Procedural legal capacity is the ability to perform valid acts in the process.

Those who are standing in the full exercise of their civil rights will have it.

The capacity to act does not prevent the execution of a process where those who miss the same, it should result in the integration of capacity through legal representation. Articles 7 and 8 of the LEC lay down rules relating to appearance at trial and representation.

• Individuals: They have full legal capacity, so they do not need legal representation, the elderly, and emancipated minors who are not judicially declared incapable.

Minors and those declared disabled by a final sentence have no capacity to act or procedural capacity. The disability can be full, you need a legal representative for all of the proceedings, or diminished, in which only the need for certain actions.

In the minor, the integration of full capacity is by representing their parent or parent who has custody.

With respect to the unborn, their legal representatives are their parents or guardians.

• Corporations: Appearing through the people who represent them. Representation is necessary because the legal person cannot act on the process itself but must do so through an individual to be determined by the legal person itself.
• Mass autonomous heritage: the managers of these assets will be acting in the lawsuit on behalf of them.
• Entities without legal personality, legal capacity: act in court by the people that the law accords them the capacity to take part.
• Consumer groups and entities without legal personality which the law does not recognize legal capacity: individuals acting on their behalf with third parties.
• Persons subject to competition: there will be as provided in the LC (Competition Law).

Treatment Procedure

• In trade: Both the lack of capacity to be a lack of procedural capacity to act can be raised automatically by the court at any stage.
• On request:
  • The defendant on the plaintiff: The inability of the applicant may be claimed by the defendant through a procedural exception provided in Article 416.1 of LEC meetings. If it is alleged that lack of capacity to take part, it cannot be remedied, since the ability to be part or not have, but if it is alleged lack of procedural capacity to act, they can be corrected.
  • The applicant on the defendant: The plaintiff cannot plead lack of capacity to be part of the defendant because, being impossible to cure, should not have sued. It can denounce the lack of legal capacity or procedural defects in the performance, as demand goes to the party without her ability and to which it bears the burden of going to process properly represented.