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My legal internship in Spain
I have had a substantial amount of exposure to the English legal system during my time at university and through various work placements.
When I decided to undertake a legal internship in Spain I was under the impression that there would be some differences between the Spanish and English legal system but, on the whole I thought that they would be very much the same particularly, as they are both subject to regulations, directives etc. set by the European Union.
On my first visit to court I was surprised by the informal and extremely busy atmosphere. I was also a little surprised by the number of court cases heard within one building. In LleÃda the court is situated in one large building with many levels and numerous different rooms. In contrast to this, in a city in the UK, there could be up to three or four separate courts for example. the County court, the Magistrate´s court and the Crown court.
There is also a difference regarding who sits in court and the specific roles which they play. In Spain the role of a ´procurador´ is to represent parties in court through the power of attorney. There is no similar role to this in the UK.
Overall it can be said that, the main similarity between the UK & Spain is that they both operate a civil legal system i.e. both systems are hierarchal and thus, decisions of lower courts cannot overrule those of a higher court. It is suffice to say that in comparison the two systems operate on similar legal principles but it would appear that the formalities are somewhat different.
Sinead S. is an intern in Lleida (Spain)
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