National Court

The National Court is seated in Madrid and is a unique judicial body in Spain, with jurisdiction throughout the entire national territory. It is structured as a centralised and specialised court for hearing certain matters expressly assigned to it by law. It was created by Royal Decree-Law 1/1977, published in the Official State Gazette on 5 January 1977.

The Administrative Chamber of the National Court shall hear, at sole instance, appeals brought against general provisions and acts of Ministers, even where such acts have been adopted following a report from or agreement by the Council of Ministers or the Government Delegated Commissions, as well as against acts of Secretaries of State in general and, in civil service matters, where they affect the creation or termination of the service relationship of career civil servants. It shall also hear appeals brought against acts of the central bodies of the Ministry of Defence in matters of promotions, ranking order, seniority in the service list and postings.

It shall also have jurisdiction to hear appeals against acts of Ministers and Secretaries of State where these rectify, by way of appeal or in supervisory or review proceedings, acts issued by other bodies or entities with competence throughout the national territory.

It shall also hear appeals relating to agreements between public administrations where jurisdiction is not assigned to the High Courts of Justice.

It shall likewise have jurisdiction over economic-administrative acts issued by the Minister of Economy and Finance and by the Central Economic-Administrative Tribunal, with the exception legally provided for in Article 10.1.e).

It shall also have jurisdiction to hear appeals against acts issued by the Commission for the Supervision of Terrorist Financing Activities, as well as applications for authorisation to extend the duration of the measures adopted by that Commission, in accordance with the Law on the Prevention and Blocking of Terrorist Financing.

It shall also hear decisions issued by the Central Administrative Court for Contractual Appeals, except in the cases excluded by Article 10.1.k).

Likewise, it shall hear appeals against acts of the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission and the FROB adopted pursuant to Law 11/2015, of 18 June, on the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms.

It shall also hear appeals brought by the National Commission on Markets and Competition in defence of market unity.

At second instance, the Chamber shall hear appeals against orders and judgments issued by the Central Administrative Courts, as well as the corresponding complaints.

It shall also hear applications for review against final judgments delivered by the Central Administrative Courts.

It shall likewise be responsible for resolving jurisdictional issues that may arise between the Central Administrative Courts.

Finally, it shall hear the application for authorisation provided for in Article 122 ter where that application is made by the Spanish Data Protection Agency.

For more information, visit the website of the General Council of the Judiciary where you can find updated official information on judicial bodies in Spain.