Civil code of spain

Spanish Civil Code

2009

Colección:Traducciones del derecho español

Edita: © MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA - SECRETARÍA GENERAL TÉCNICA NIPO: 051-09-014-0 Traducción jurada realizada por: Dª Sofía de Ramón-Laca Clausen Maquetación: DIN Impresores, S.L. Cabo Tortosa, 13-15. Pol. Ind Borondo - 28500 - Arganda del Rey (Madrid)http://www.060.es

SPANISH CIVIL CODE PRELIMINARY TITLE On legalrules, their application and effectiveness CHAPTER ONE Sources of law Article 1. 1. The sources of the Spanish legal system are statutes, customs and general legal principles. 2. Any provisions which contradict another of higher rank shall be invalid. 3. Customs shall only apply in the absence of applicable statutes, provided that they are not contrary to morals or public policy, and that it isproven. Legal uses which are not merely for the interpretation of a declaration of will shall be considered customs. 4. General legal principles shall apply in the absence of applicable statute or custom, without prejudice to the fact that they contribute to shape the legal system. 5. Legal rules contained in international treaties shall have no direct application in Spain until they have become part ofthe domestic legal system by full publication thereof in the Spanish Official State Gazette. 6. Case law shall complement the legal system by means of the doctrine repeatedly upheld by the Supreme Court in its interpretation and application of statutes, customs and general legal principles. 7. Judges and Courts shall have the inexcusable duty to resolve in any event on the issues brought beforethem, abiding by system of sources set forth herein. Article 2. 1. Statutes shall enter into force twenty days after their full publication in the Official State Gazette, unless otherwise provided therein. 2. Statutes may only be repealed by subsequent statutes. Such repeal shall have the scope expressly provided therein, and shall always extend to any provisions of the new statute on the samematter which are incompatible with the prior statute. Mere abrogation of a statute shall not entail recovery of the force and effect of any provisions repealed thereby. 3. Statutes shall not have retroactive effect, unless otherwise provided therein. CHAPTER 2º Application of legal rules Article 3. 1. Rules shall be construed according to the proper meaning of their wording and in connection with thecontext, with their historical and legislative background and with the social reality of the time in which they are to be applied, mainly attending to their spirit and purpose. 2. Equity must be taken into account in applying rules, but the resolutions of the Courts may only be based exclusively on equity when the law expressly allows this. Article 4. 1. Where the relevant rules fail tocontemplate a specific case, but do regulate another similar one in which the same ratio is perceived, the latter rule shall be applied by analogy.

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2. Criminal statutes, exceptional statutes and statutes of temporary nature shall not be applied in cases or times other than as expressly provided therein. 3. The provisions of this Code shall be of subsidiary application in matters governed by otherstatutes. Article 5. 1. Unless otherwise provided, for periods stated in number of days, counting from a particular date, the latter shall be excluded from the calculation, which shall begin on the following day; and periods set in number of months or years shall be calculated from date to date. Where on the month of the expiration date there should be no date equivalent to the initial date ofthe period, the period shall be deemed to expire on the last day of the month. 2. Calculation of periods according to civil law shall not exclude non-business days. CHAPTER 3º General effectiveness of legal rules. Article 6. 1. Ignorance of the law does not excuse from compliance thereof. Error in law shall only have the effects provided in the law. 2. The voluntary exclusion of applicable law and...