JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following Law.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

I

The regulation of the regime of access to the profession of lawyer in Spain is a requirement derived from the Articles 17.3 and 24 of the Constitution: these professionals are fundamental collaborators in the imparting of justice, and the quality of service that they provide directly in the effective judicial protection that our Constitution guarantees to the citizenry.

This law therefore constitutes a complement to the provisions of the Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1, of the Judicial Branch, and in Law 1/1996 of 10 January of Free Legal Assistance, which enshrine the function of the lawyers, to which he reserves the direction and defence of the parties, so that it is up to them to guarantee the legal assistance to the citizen in the process, in a compulsory manner when the procedural rule so requires and, in any case, as a right to the defence expressly recognised by the Constitution. The assistance of the lawyer, in accordance with the broad concept of protection to be sought, also includes professional actions designed to avoid the process by means of preventive and compositional formulas and, in general, counselling in Right.

Also, the attorney general, to whom the LOPJ grants the representation of the parties when it is established by the procedural law, guarantees legal aid, therefore, it is essential to also provide for the necessary requirements for the access to this profession, in line with the tradition that already existed in Spain.

The experience of comparative law shows that action before the courts and other legal aid activities require the prior accreditation of a professional training that goes beyond the obtaining a university degree. This justifies the regulation of two professional titles complementary to the university degree in law: the professional title of lawyer, which is required to provide legal assistance using the name of lawyer; and the professional title of procurator, enforceable to act before the courts as such.

addition, in a Europe which is moving towards greater integration, the approval of these legal professions is essential, in order to guarantee the fluidity in the movement and the establishment of professionals, one of the pillars of the single market which is an essential foundation of the European Union.

II

It should be remembered that the necessary professional training of these collaborators in the exercise of effective judicial protection has been a constant demand of the representatives of the professions. All the congresses of the Spanish law, in a significant way the one of León of 1970, the one of Palma de Mallorca of 1989, the one of La Coruña of 1995, the one of Seville of 1999 and the one of Salamanca of 2003, and the meetings of the boards of government of the schools Lawyers from Santander in 1994, Girona in 1997, Valencia in 2001 and Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2005, expressing the unanimous feeling of the Spanish law, have claimed the guarantee of an initial training equal for all professionals of the advocacy. In particular, the Sixth Congress of Spanish Advocate stressed the fundamental importance of practical vocational training and the necessary homogeneity in the assessment of such training to equip the professionals of the European Union, calling for the regulation of the matter by the public authorities. The second day of the 1997 Government Boards of Government Boards took advantage of the entry into force of the regulation on free legal aid to insist on this issue, taking one step further with the establishment of the certificate of professional competence, which, even voluntary, is required by the schools for the inclusion of the professional on the trade shift.

The endeavor has also insisted on the matter. At its 10th National Congress in 2000, it was pointed out that "access to the exercise of the profession of procurator, homing it to the rest of the countries of the European Union, without prejudice to the specific function of each profession", was to be regulated. reiterated, as an example, at the 7th International Congress of the Committee of European Justice Postulants, held in Mallorca in 2004.

Other legal operators have been sensitive to the issue. The White Paper of Justice presented by the General Council of the Judiciary in 1997 called for the practical training of these professionals. In addition, the conclusions of the 10th Conference of Decanes and Dean of the Law Faculties of Spanish Universities, meeting in Vigo on June 28, 2004, pointed out " the assumption of the need and urgency to regulate access to the The Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance held that, in the case of the Court of First Instance, the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance had to lawyers ", making further reference to the possibility of an end-objective test.

And, in a very significant way, the State Pact on Justice of the year 2001 also referred to the question in point 20, foreseeing " formulas approved with the member countries of the European Union to guarantee the preparation of the for the exercise of the profession ".

III

The text underlines the importance of the practical training of professionals, so that their ability to provide the constitutionally provided legal assistance is objectively guaranteed.

To this end, it combines the formative suitability of the universities with the expertise of the professional schools. It should be noted that collaboration between universities and professional schools is one of the keys to the system. A significant manifestation of this is that training courses require a period of external professional practice, the existence of which is ensured by the corresponding agreement between the university and the professional schools.

The recognition for professional purposes of additional practical training to the degree in law allows for the coordination and integration of the process with the system of university studies, with which, however, and with full respect to the University autonomy and its sectoral regulation are not interfered with. However, as the university regulation already provides for, it cannot be dispensed with in this case of the establishment of criteria to which university studies will have to be subject to the effects of making access to diplomas possible. professionals that are regulated. To this end, the necessary accreditation of the training contents is available jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science, with the decisive demand for external practices, teachers specially qualified for the Partition of this training of practical content, etc.

Moreover, the model cannot obviate the reality of the existence of numerous and prestigious schools of legal practice for lawyers, whose integration in the described system is produced by its necessary concert with the universities.

In any case, in order to guarantee in an objective manner the professional training of the licentiate in law thus formed, an evaluation of a general nature is included at the end of the practical training period, creating to this end a commission plural with significant representation of the affected university and professional sectors.

IV

Entering the analysis of the articles, it is worth noting that two professional qualifications are regulated, the professional title of lawyer and the professional title of prosecutor of the courts. The law does not interfere, beyond constituting these titles, in the budgets of professional practice of law and seeks it.

As set out in Chapter II, the training we are given may be taught by the universities, although it cannot be forgotten that we are dealing with a professional title, so that, as has already been indicated, the These courses will be jointly accredited by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science. This gives a great flexibility to the model and respects the maximum of university autonomy, since it allows the universities to decide which configuration will have these studies in each case, without interfering in the possibility that universities organise other postgraduate legal studies with the academic validity of the existing sectoral regulations.

The validity of the practical training provided in the law schools of lawyers, within the conventions referred to above, is also recognized as recognition of the work of preparation of the professionals who, above all for the best guardianship in free justice, they are doing these schools.

As for the final evaluation, although it is the same, in order to guarantee objectivity, it will be unique throughout the national territory, reasons of operability advise its decentralization, with the creation of an evaluation commission. for the territory of each autonomous community where the centres providing such practical training are based.

With regard to the provisions supplementing the text, the establishment of a broad period of "vacatio legis" should be highlighted prior to the entry into force of this rule, during which neither the professional title nor the lawyer and professional title of attorney general of the courts to collegiate and exercise the respective professions, so that the expectations of the current students of the bachelor's degree or the degree in law are not taken away.

The question of those who exercise the right from another function for whose performance they have passed selective evidence of legal training has been resolved, in respect of which it would be meaningless. subject them to a training process and a repeat assessment if they decide to move to the law or seek it.

State competition is covered by Article 149.1. 1st, 6th and 30th of the Constitution, in accordance with Article 36 of the Constitution, so the provisions of this law shall apply throughout the national territory.

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 1. Purpose and purpose of the law.

1. The purpose of this law is to regulate the conditions for obtaining the professional title of lawyer and the professional title of attorney of the courts, as collaborators in the exercise of the fundamental right to effective judicial protection, with the aim of to ensure the access of citizens to advice, legal protection and quality technical representation.

2. Obtaining the professional title of lawyer in the form determined by this law is necessary for the performance of the legal assistance in those judicial and extrajudicial processes in which the current regulations impose or empower the The Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance held that the Court of First Instance exercise of law.

3. The obtaining of the professional title of attorney of the courts in the form determined by this law is necessary to perform the legal representation of the parties in the judicial processes in the capacity of procuratorate, carrying out the acts of communication to the parties and those other acts of cooperation with the Administration of Justice that the law authorizes them, as well as to use the name of attorney of the courts, without prejudice to the fulfillment of any other requirements required by the rules in force for the exercise of the pursuit.

4. Obtaining professional qualifications as a lawyer or a solicitor will be a prerequisite for collegiation in the corresponding professional associations.

Article 2. Accreditation of professional competence.

1. They shall have the right to obtain the professional title of lawyer or the professional title of prosecutor of the courts persons who are in possession of the university degree of law, or of the degree of degree to which they are entitled According to the forecasts contained in Article 88 of the Organic Law 6/2001, of 21 December, of Universities and their development regulations and that they credit their professional training by overcoming the corresponding training specialized and the assessment regulated by this law.

2. The specialized training required to be able to access the evaluations leading to obtaining these qualifications is a regulated and official training which will be acquired through the completion of accredited training courses. jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science through the procedure to be established.

3. Professional titles regulated in this law will be issued by the Ministry of Education and Science.

CHAPTER II

Getting professional training

Article 3. Training.

1. Training courses for lawyers and procurators may be organised and taught by universities, public or private, and by schools of legal practice.

2. All such centres shall have the effect of establishing the conventions referred to in this Chapter.

Article 4. University training.

1. Training courses for lawyers may be organised and taught by public or private universities, in accordance with the rules governing the official post-graduate university education and, where appropriate, within the price regime. public, and shall be accredited, on a proposal from them, in accordance with Article 2.2. This accreditation shall be without prejudice to the authorisations and approvals required by the educational legislation for the purposes of the validity and academic qualification of the courses.

2. They shall constitute essential requirements for the accreditation of those courses which include the completion of a period of external practices in the terms of Article 6, and which include the conduct of the regulated assessment in the Chapter III.

3. The procedure shall be laid down and the requirements to be met by such courses for their periodic accreditation as regards their content and duration, as well as the qualifications and qualifications of the teachers, shall be laid down. guaranteed the presence of half, at least, of professional collegiate professionals. The duration of the courses will be 60 credits, plus the credits required for carrying out the external practices referred to in Article 6.

4. The provisions of this Article shall apply to courses of training for access to the search in accordance with the specific regulation to be established in regulatory headquarters.

Article 5. Schools of legal practice.

1. Schools of legal practice set up by the law schools which have been approved by the General Council of the Advocate General in accordance with their regulatory regulations may organise and provide courses to enable access to the regulated assessment in Article 7, provided that the said courses are jointly accredited by the Ministries of Justice and Education and Science in the manner that it is regulated.

2. In order to enable the accreditation and recognition of its courses to be carried out for the purposes of determining its programme, content, teachers and other circumstances, schools of legal practice must have concluded an agreement with a public or private university, ensuring compliance with the general requirements laid down in Article 4 for training courses. They shall also provide for the execution of a period of external practices in the law or in the pursuit, as directed at the professional training of the lawyers or the procurators, in the terms of the following article, and of the assessment provided for in Chapter III.

Article 6. External practices.

1. External practices in activities specific to the practice of law or in the pursuit of activities, with the requirements to be determined, shall constitute half of the training content of the courses to which it is refers to the preceding articles, being an integral part of them. In no case will they involve employment or service relationships.

2. The practices will be carried out under the tutelage of a lawyer or prosecutor, as they are directed to the training for the exercise of the law or of the procuratorate. The guardians shall be lawyers or procurators with a professional exercise exceeding five years. The respective general statutes of law and of law enforcement will regulate the other requirements for the performance of the tutoring, as well as the rights and obligations of the guardian, whose infringement will result in disciplinary responsibility.

3. In the cases referred to in Articles 4 and 5.2, a convention must have been concluded between the university and, at least, a professional association of lawyers or a professional association of procurators, which establishes the establishment of the internship programme. and the appointment of the relevant tutors, the maximum number of pupils who may be assigned to each guardian, the places or institutions where the practices will be carried out, as well as the control mechanisms for the exercise of such practices, Requirements laid down in regulation.

4. Once an offer has been submitted for a convention by a university or a school of legal practice, for the purposes of Article 4.2 in conjunction with Articles 5.2 and 6.3 of this Law, and provided that it meets the minimum requirements which are established by the ministries responsible for the accreditation of training courses, as provided for in Article 2.2, the party to whom the tender is submitted may not reject it in an arbitrary manner and shall issue a decision motivated in relation to the same.

CHAPTER III

Accreditation of professional training

Article 7. Assessment.

1. The assessment of professional competence, which culminates in the process of vocational training, aims to establish, in an objective manner, sufficient practical training for the exercise of the profession of lawyer or the profession of procurator. as knowledge of the respective deontological and professional standards.

2. The committees for the evaluation of professional competence shall be jointly convened by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science, heard by the Autonomous Communities, the University Coordination Council and the Council. Advocate General or General Council of the Colleges of Attorneys.

3. The composition of the evaluation commission for access to the law and the evaluation commission for access to the care, which will be unique for the courses held in the territory of the same autonomous community, will be established. ensuring the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science, and of members appointed on a proposal from the respective autonomous community. In any case, in the evaluation committee for access to the law, there will be appointed members on a proposal from the General Council of the Spanish Lawyers; likewise, in the evaluation committee for access to the search, there will be designated members on a proposal of the General Counsel of the Courts. The number of appointed representatives on a proposal from each ministry, the autonomous community, and the corresponding professional corporation will be the same.

4. If the number of applicants so advises, a single evaluation commission may be set up for the courses held in the territory of several autonomous communities, thus indicating in the call.

5. Both the assessment for access to the law and the evaluation for access to the search will have unique content for the entire Spanish territory in each call. The procedure by which the Ministry of Justice will determine the specific content of each evaluation, with the participation of the universities of the courses, of the General Council of the Spanish Advocate General, will be determined. of the General Counsel of the Courts.

6. The calls shall be at least yearly and may not establish a limited number of places.

7. The procedure for convening, places and means of concluding the evaluation, publication and communication of the results and other requirements necessary for its implementation shall be regulated. The programmes will also be regulated, which will also cover matters relating to the own right of the autonomous communities, and the system of evaluation, in a differentiated way for the law and the search, according to the different training necessary for the performance of one and another profession.

Additional disposition first. Freedom of establishment.

The permanent exercise in Spain of the profession of lawyer or prosecutor with professional qualifications obtained in another Member State of the European Union or of the Agreement on the European Economic Area shall be governed by its law specifies.

Additional provision second. Grants and scholarships.

The Government will guarantee equal opportunities for access to the exercise of the professions of attorney and procurator; to this effect, grants and scholarships will be established for those licensed in law who want to obtain any of the qualifications referred to in this law, in accordance with the national system of grants.

Additional provision third. Professional exercise of civil servants.

1. The performance of the staff at the service of the State, of the Constitutional Organ, of the Public Administrations or public entities before Courts and Courts in the performance of the functions proper to the office shall be governed by the provisions of the Article 551 of the Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1, of the Judicial Branch, and other applicable legislation, without in any event being required to obtain the title regulated in this law.

2. Public servants who have acceded to a body or scale of group A as a law graduate shall be exempt from obtaining the title of lawyer or the title of prosecutor from the courts for the purposes described in the article. 1 of this law, provided that they perform legal assistance or legal advice. Other members of the Law Enforcement Administration, in the Judicial Race, in the Fiscal Race, in the Judicial Race, in the Corps of Deputies, will also be exempt from the law. Judicial Secretaries, or in any of the common bodies of the Armed Forces in their capacity as licensed in law.

Additional provision fourth. Adaptation of the collegial norms to what is foreseen in this law.

Professional law schools and attorneys will adapt their regulations to what is provided for by this law.

Additional provision fifth. Accessibility.

In order to promote the access of persons with disabilities to the professions of attorney and prosecutor of the courts, in the design and conduct of the courses and evaluations referred to in article 2.2 of this law, accessibility criteria will be taken into account.

Additional provision sixth. Autonomic tips.

References to the General Council of the Attorney General or to the General Council of Proceedings, or to their respective Statutes, contained in the articles of the law, shall be construed as references, where appropriate, to the respective regional councils or to their respective regulatory rules, in accordance with the provisions of applicable law.

Additional provision seventh. Degree in Law and Bachelor of Law.

For the purposes of this law, the reference to the degree in law shall be understood as a law degree, where appropriate.

Single transient arrangement. Professional staff members at the entry into force of the professional title requirement.

1. Professional qualifications governed by this rule shall not be required of those who are already incorporated in a college of lawyers or prosecutors, as exercisers or non-exercisers, at the time of entry into force of this law.

2. The professional qualifications covered by this law shall not be enforceable either to those who, without being incorporated in a college of lawyers or procurators for entry into force, have been incorporated before their entry into force, as exercised or not exercised, for a continuous or discontinuous period of not less than one year, provided that they proceed to be collegiate before they exercise as such and would not have caused a disciplinary sanction.

3. Those who, at the time of entry into force of this law, are in possession of a university degree of degree or degree in law, and are not included in the preceding paragraph, shall have a maximum period of two years, count from its entry into force, to proceed as a collective, as an exercise or non-exerciser, without being required to obtain the professional qualifications that are regulated in it.

Final disposition first. Competence title.

The provisions contained in this law, issued pursuant to Article 149.1. 1st, 6th and 30th of the Constitution and in accordance with Article 36 thereof, shall apply throughout the national territory.

Final disposition second. Regulatory enablement.

The Government, the Ministries of Justice and Education and Science and the other competent ministerial departments are empowered to dictate how many regulatory provisions are necessary for the development and implementation of the present law.

Final disposition third. Entry into force of this law.

This law will enter into force five years after its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this Law.

Madrid, 30 October 2006.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO