It is common knowledge that there are many circumstances that may force us to go to court to defend our rights.
In many proceedings, the procedural laws provide that the litigants’ actions before the judicial body must be carried out through the intervention of a court attorney, a lawyer or a social graduate, which requires the prior granting of a power of attorney through which representation is conferred in favor of these professionals. This is the so-called power of attorney for lawsuits.
Until now, such power of attorney had to be formalized in a public deed authorized by a notary or conferred by appearance of the interested party before the Counsel for the Administration of Justice at the seat of the court (the latter modality is called “apud acta”), with the economic cost (in the form of notarial fees) and time that this entailed.
The evolution of new technologies and the advance towards a connected society through the Internet have led to the recent appearance of a new tool that facilitates the processing of powers of attorney in favor of attorneys, lawyers and social graduates without the need to go to a notary or to the seat of a court.
This is the telematic Apud Acta Apoderamiento.
By means of the service provided by the Ministry of Justice through its Electronic Judicial Headquarters, any citizen or legal entity with a digital certificate (issued by the National Mint or any other recognized entity) can register powers of attorney telematically at any time, 365 days a year.
The Judicial Electronic Headquarters is the electronic address available for citizens and professionals of Justice through the communication networks whose ownership, management and administration corresponds to each of the competent Administrations in matters of Justice, and was created under Law 18/2011, of July 5, 2011, regulating the use of information and communication technologies in the Administration of Justice.
This telematic power of attorney has the same validity as the powers of attorney made before a notary or before a lawyer of the Administration of Justice, being a totally free service.
The procedure to grant a telematic power of attorney is as follows:
- Access the Electronic Judicial Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice(sedejudicial.justicia.es).
- By clicking on “Procedures and Services” a list of procedures appears. We must select “Apoderamiento Apud Acta”.
- Once the procedure has been selected, click on the “Access the service” tab.
- It will indicate the form in which we want to identify ourselves (Digital Certificate, Pin Key, Permanent Key, etc.). Usually we will grant the proxy with “digital certificate”, clicking “access” on this tab.
- Select the option “Poderdante”.
At this point we must remember that if the power of attorney is granted by a natural person on behalf of a legal entity acting with its digital certificate, it will be necessary to incorporate the deed of granting the power of attorney.
- Then a screen with different boxes will open, in which the data of the principal will appear completed by default, it will be necessary to add the telephone number that we want to indicate and the electronic address of contact. It is necessary to complete the following data:
- Address of the principal.
- Proxy data.
In the granting process, after entering the Attorney’s, Lawyer’s or Social Graduate’s membership number, the rest of their data (name, surname, e-mail, etc.) is automatically filled in.
- Once the proxy data has been completed, click on “Add proxy” and “Next”.
- You will access the following page where you can choose between granting a power of attorney for a specific judicial proceeding or for any judicial action, as well as granting a general power of attorney for lawsuits or excluding any power of attorney from the general power of attorney.
If you choose to make a power of attorney for a specific judicial proceeding already initiated, it will be necessary to indicate: identification of the judicial body handling the case, number of the proceeding, and general identification number (NIG).
- The term of the power of attorney for lawsuits is determined.
- On the following page we can download a draft of the declaration to be signed below.
- After digitally signing the declaration, the document containing the power of attorney and the registration certificate can be downloaded in PDF format.
- This document will be presented in court as if it were a power of attorney for litigation.
From “Lacasa Abogados, Palacios & Partners” we consider that this new system of granting powers of attorney for lawsuits is a clear technological advance in the Administration of Justice, and it saves time and money for companies and individuals, who can carry out the procedure at any time from their own computer, or even from their cell phone.
Juan Ignacio Palacios Rubio José María García-Belenguer Montón