Considerations regarding the Burden of Proof in Spanish Law

The Spanish Civil Procedural Law ("Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil" commonly known in Spain as LEC) stablishes in its article 217 the following considerations regarding the Burden of proof in Spanish Law:

1. When, at the time of issuing sentence (ruling) or similar resolution, the court considered relevant facts for the decision to be doubtful, it will dismiss the claims of the plaintiff or the counterclaimer, or those of the defendant or counterclaimer, as the burden of proof corresponded to one or the other, the facts that remain uncertain and support the claims.

2. The plaintiff and the counterclaimed defendant bear the burden of proving the certainty of the facts from which it is ordinarily inferred, according to the legal norms applicable to them, the legal effect corresponding to the claims of the claim and the counterclaim.

3. The defendant and the counterclaimed plaintiff bear the burden of proving the facts that, in accordance with the rules applicable to them, prevent, extinguish or undermine the legal effectiveness of the facts referred to in the preceding section.

4. In the proceedings on unfair competition and illicit advertising, the defendant shall bear the burden of proof of the accuracy and veracity of the indications and statements made and of the material data that the advertising expresses, respectively.

5. In accordance with procedural laws, in those procedures in which the plaintiff's allegations are based on discriminatory actions based on sex, it will be up to the defendant to prove the absence of discrimination in the measures adopted and their proportionality. For the purposes of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the judicial body, at the request of a party, may request, if it deems it useful and pertinent, a report or opinion from the competent public bodies.

6. The rules contained in the preceding sections will apply whenever an express legal provision does not distribute the burden of proving the relevant facts with special criteria.

7. For the application of the provisions of the previous sections of this article, the court must keep in mind the availability and ease of evidence that corresponds to each of the parties to the litigation.