Provincial Court (Spain)

Provincial Court of Madrid

The Provincial Courts are the highest judicial bodies of the provinces of Spain. They have their headquarters in the capital of the province and exercise their jurisdiction over all of it. These courts of justice deal with civil and criminal matters and are structured in sections made up of three or four magistrates.

History

The Provincial Courts arose as a result of the royal decree of October 14, 1882. Eighty were created throughout Spain, one for each district. They were called the Audiencia Penal (Criminal Hearing). In the Girona demarcation, for example, there were two districts; one, Olot and Figueras, and the other, Girona, La Bisbal del Ampurdán, Santa Coloma de Farnés and Puigcerdá. In 1892, the Government decided, for economic reasons, to leave an audience for each province. This caused the disappearance of Courts such as Algeciras, Elche or Figueras, which became sections of the new Courts with provincial demarcation. From 1893 the Courts were renamed Provincial Courts.

Sections

Section 8 of the Provincial Court of Cadiz in Jerez de la Frontera

There are cases in which part of the sections of the Provincial Court are located in a city other than the capital and to which one or several judicial districts are attached, as is the case, for example, of the Provincial Court of Cádiz whose the sixth section is in Ceuta, the seventh section is in Algeciras and the eighth section in Jerez de la Frontera; or the Provincial Court of Malaga, whose seventh section is located in Melilla. Other cases are: the Provincial Court of Alicante whose seventh and ninth sections are based in Elche; the fifth section of the Provincial Court of Murcia based in Cartagena; the Provincial Court of Asturias whose seventh and eighth sections are located in Gijón; the Provincial Court of La Coruña, whose sixth section is located in Santiago de Compostela; the Provincial Court of Pontevedra, with sections fifth and sixth in Vigo; or the third section of the Provincial Court of Badajoz, which is based in Mérida.

Competencies

In civil matters

1. They are aware of the appeal, second instance, of all civil proceedings that have been raised in the Trial Courts of their province.
   
2. Of the conflicts of competence, raised between the Magistrates ' Courts/First Instance/Instruction/Commerce/Gender Violence Courts in their province.

In criminal matters

Provincial Court of Córdoba

On appeal (second instance):

1. Of appeals filed against those judgements handed down in proceedings for minor offences by the provincial courts of instruction. (In these cases the Audience is constituted in the Unipersonal Court).
2. Of appeals filed against judgements handed down by the Criminal Courts of the province where they are based.
3. The appeals or complaints filed against the orders of the Magistrates ' Court of the Province during the proceedings of the Court of the Jury, Previous and Summary Diligences.
4. Of the conflicts of competence between the courts of instruction, the criminal or the courts on violence against women.

They also know and fail:

Of those crimes whose cognizance and ruling does not correspond to the Criminal Courts, as long as the investigation has been carried out by the Investigating Courts of their province.