Court fees are fiscal in nature and are paid to the State, that is, they are taxes and are collected through the Ministry of Finance. They are paid by the subjects who request some type of judicial protection.
The active subject is the State and the passive subject: the citizens who benefit from this public service. It falls on the users of the service themselves. It is collected at the time of filing each legal proceeding, since the fee depends on the type of legal proceeding and its amount.
Law 10/2012, of 20 November , regulating certain fees in the field of the job seekers database Administration of Justice and the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences, imposed the payment of fees in a generic way. Previously, the payment of fees was limited to the civil and administrative litigation jurisdictions, and only for large companies, that is, natural persons, non-profit entities, companies exempt from Corporate Tax were exempt, and a business volume limit was established to determine what type of companies or entities were exempt.
Law 10/2012 generalizes the application of the court fee to most procedural acts and to all subjects, regardless of their status or income.
Controversial and highly criticized law. Since its inception, modifications have been introduced because it has raised questions of constitutionality. This tax collection system can be considered a limitation or impediment to the right to effective judicial protection (art. 24.1 CE), especially in relation to the right to equality (art. 14 CE).
Amendment to the law on court fees
At the end of February 2015, the Government approved Royal Decree-Law 1/2015, of 27 February , on the second chance mechanism, reduction of financial burden and other social measures. Among other things, it modifies Law 10/2012 of 20 November, specifically article 4, which includes the tax exemptions. It incorporates a total exemption from the tax for individuals.
Royal Decree-Law 1/2015 does not include any transitional rights. Individuals who filed a claim or appeal before the reform and had pending payment requests must pay the same.
Since February 2015, natural persons do not have to pay court fees in any jurisdiction or instance. The fee payment for legal persons remains in force, with the most affected group being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, on 21 July 2016, the Constitutional Court annulled court fees for legal persons.
On Friday, July 29, 2016, the Constitutional Court's ruling annulling court fees for legal entities was made public. Ruling 140/2016, of July 21 .
On February 13, 2013, an appeal of unconstitutionality was filed against certain provisions of Law 10/2012, specifically: Article 1 (scope of application of the rate), 2 (taxable event), 3 (taxable person), 5 (accrual), 6 (tax base), 7 (determination of the tax rate) and 11 (linking the rate to the free justice system).