Given the serious public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 virus, and the fact that the World Health Organisation has declared the virus to be an international pandemic, on 14 March 2020 the Spanish government approved and published Royal Decree 463/2020, in which it declared a state of emergency in order to manage the crisis caused by the spread of the virus.

The details of the state of emergency have been publicly announced elsewhere, so this note will refer only to issues that relate to the specific measures adopted within the Justice Administration and the public notary service. The government has also announced that it will shortly be publishing economic measures with the aim of mitigating the serious economic consequences that will result from the halting of commercial and corporate activities, and we must therefore wait until we have the opportunity to examine these measures before we can offer any advice in this regard.

For the time being, we here transcribe the measures included in Royal Decree 463/2020 in relation to the Justice Administration and the public notary service:

– Additional Provision 2: Suspension of procedural terms and deadlines. The terms and deadlines set out in the procedural legislation governing all jurisdictional levels have been interrupted and suspended. The calculation of deadlines will resume once RD 463/2020 no longer applies. However, certain exceptions apply in some criminal matters and other jurisdictional areas.

– Additional Provision 3: Suspension of administrative terms and deadlines. The terms and deadlines established for hearing procedures in the public sector have been interrupted and suspended. The calculation of deadlines will resume once the Royal Decree ceases to apply, along with the calculation of any extension to these deadlines, where applicable. This will nevertheless include the possible application of exceptions.

– Additional Provision 4: Suspension of time-bar periods and expiry dates. The terms established for the time-barring and expiry of all actions and rights will be suspended for as long as the state of emergency continues, along with any extensions that may be adopted, where applicable.

– Agreement by the Standing Committee of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ): Suspension of all scheduled legal actions and the procedural terms and deadlines that this decision entails, except in cases involving essential services.

These measures will remain in place for 15 calendar days, i.e. until 29 March 2020. However, this period of suspension may be extended where deemed necessary.

In addition, the Instruction issued on 15 March 2020 by the General Board for Legal Security and Public Trust, regarding the adoption of measures to guarantee the adequate provision of public notary services, established that notaries’ offices will not be closing as they provide a public service. However, they will only attend to matters that are urgent or specified by the government. In addition, when dealing with these matters they will take certain measures, such as limiting access by the parties involved and allowing them only to remain in their offices for the time necessary.