Remedies and enforcement

AuthorLorenzo Cachón
Pages64-76
64
6 REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT
6.1 Judicial and/or administrative procedures (Article 7 Directive 2000/43,
Article 9 Directive 2000/78)
a) Available procedures for enforcing the principle of equal treatment
In Spain, the following procedures exist for enforcing the principle of equal treatment:
judicial, administrative and alternative dispute resolution such as mediation.
Judicial procedure
The Spanish Constitution provides that all fundamental rights are protected by the ordinary
courts of law (Article 53). This protection will be mad e effective, in the fi rst place, by a
special preferential and summary procedure that is regulated by the main procedural laws
for all types of jurisdiction: civil (Law 1/2000 of 7 January 2000 on Civil Procedure), 117
criminal (Criminal Procedure Law of 14 September 1882, modified by Law 8/2002 of 24
October 2002), labour (Law 36/2011 of 10 Octo ber 2011 regulating Social Jurisdiction) or
administrative (Law 29 /1998 of 13 July 1998 regulating the administrative courts).118
Moreover, appeals for protection in respect of such rights may be lodged at the
Constitutional Court once ordinary proceedings have been exhausted (Organic Law 2/1979
of 3 October 1979 on the Constitutional Court, modified by Organic Law 6/2007 of 24 May
2007). The Organic Law on the Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain and their Social
Integration (OL 4/2000 ) stipulates that foreigners are entitled t o legal aid on the same
conditions as Spaniards.
Conflicts regarding either private sector employment or the hired personnel of public
entities (who are subject to lab our law) are resolved by the social jurisdictional branch,
composed of the specialised single-instance social and labour courts (juzgados de lo social
de única instancia), the first instance and appeal chambers specialising in social and labour
law (las salas de l o social de los Tribunales de primera y segunda instancia), the regional
high courts (Tribunales Superiores de Justicia), the National High C ourt (la Audiencia
Nacional) and the social an d labour chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala de lo social del
Tribunal Supremo).
When the conflicts are due to an action by the administration that is subject to
administrative and not labour law, the jurisdictional branch that is competent is the
administrative jurisdiction (jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa), which requires the
prior exhaustion of whatever administrative procedures there may be, and which is formed
by the first-instan ce and appellate administrative courts (juzgados y tribunales
contenciosos administrativos, en primera y segunda instancia), and by the administrative
chamber of the Supreme Court (sala de lo contencioso-administrativo del Tribunal
Supremo).
The Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo), the highest instance within the ordinary judiciary,
is responsible for judging appeals in orde r to reconcile contradictory decisions by lower
courts. Its decisions are binding and thus constitute a source of law; therefore, its
judgments should be followed by the lower courts.
All the cited judicial procedur es are bindin g but are subject to possible appeals to higher
courts.
117 Law 1/2000 of 7 January 2000 on Civil Procedure (Ley 1/2000, de 7 de enero, de Enjuiciamiento Civil)
(BOE, 8 January 2000), http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2000/01/08/pdfs/A00575-00728.pdf.
118 Law 29/1998 of 13 July 1998 regulating the administrative courts (Ley 29/1998, de 13 de julio, reguladora
de la Jurisdicción Contencioso administrativa) (BOE, 14 July 1998),
http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1998/07/14/pdfs/A23516-23551.pdf.

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