The "Audicencia Previa" or Pretrial Hearing in a Spanish Judicial Civil Ordinary Process

Due to the filing of certain lawsuits, either for reasons of matter or amount, the Civil Procedure Law indicates the need to go to a Prior Hearing that will be held orally and before the Judge.

This Preliminary Hearing is a phase prior to the oral trial and will basically try to reach an agreement between the parties in order to avoid the appointment and subsequent start of the oral trial.

After the answer/reply to the claim, by the defendant's lawyer, the Lawyer of the Administration of Justice from the corresponding Court summons the parties to that Preliminary Hearing where they are represented by a Procurator, who must carry special power to acquiesce, desist or compromise if the party does not attend personally, as it is not necessary because they do not have to intervene.

This Previous Hearing is carried out basically to:

1. Attempt to reach an agreement or submit the case to mediation with the suspension of the procedure

2. Examine procedural issues to the exclusions related to jurisdiction and competence

3. Set with precision the object and extremes of the procedure

4. Proposal and admission of evidence by plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers respectively to the Judge