Frequently asked questions
The Supreme Court is comprised of the president of the Supreme Court, the vice-president, the presidents of the five chambers and seventy-four magistrate judges, who are all part of its five ordinary jurisdictional chambers: First Chamber for Civil Matters, Second Chamber for Criminal Matters, Third Chamber for Contentious-Administrative Matters, Fourth Chamber for Labour Matters, Fifth Chamber for Military Matters.
The court is governed by the Governing Chamber, the highest collegiate governing body of the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has two main bodies to carry out its duties: the Technical Office and the Senior Clerk’s office.
Consult the Organisational Structure of the Supreme Court.
The Governing Chamber of the Supreme Court, at its meeting of 7th November 2022, has approved the following resolution:
VI.1. SUSPENSION OF GUIDED TOURS OF THE PALACE OF JUSTICE.
AGREEMENT: To suspend the guided tours that have been taking place at the Palace of Justice building, the seat of the Supreme Court, maintaining only those of an institutional nature.
Guided tours to the Supreme Court are free. They take place from Monday to Friday, normally at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., and last approximately 90 minutes. During the walking tour, you will be given an explanation about the history of the building while you visit some of the main rooms in the Palace of Justice: Criminal and Civil Matters Chambers, Hall of Lost Steps, The Rotunda, Plenary Chamber, etc.
Groups must be of 20 people maximum, according to the agreement made by the Governing Chamber of the Supreme Court on 28 March of 2022, and current health measures will be checked.
Guided tours must be requested through the following email address: tribunalsupremo.visitasguiadas@justicia.es
Visits can be made throughout the year, except in the months of July and August.
Also, in October, we will organize the Supreme Court Open Days, during which, in addition to the guided tours of the building, there will be special activities. In this case it is not necessary to request a visit, just show you ID, passport or any other official document.
This information can be consulted in the corresponding section of the transparency portal: Selection procedures underway.
The Supreme Court is comprised of the president of the Supreme Court, the vice-president, the presidents of the five chambers and seventy-four magistrate judges. Of these, ten are women, 12.34% of the total.
To find out the number and percentage of men and women working at the court in posts other than that of magistrate of the Supreme Court, please consult the section relating to employee statistics.
The average annual number of judgments passed by each of the Supreme Court magistrate judges in 2015, according to each specific chamber, is as follows:
- First Chamber for Civil Matters: 66.72
- Second Chamber for Criminal Matters: 43.47
- Third Chamber for Contentious-Administrative Matters: 83.44
- Fourth Chamber for Labour Matters: 60.13
- Fifth Chamber for Military Matters: 23.25
Consult the average number of judgments per magistrate judge.
Legislation applied: Law 31/2022, of 23 December, on the General State Budgets for 2023.
The earnings of the members of the Judiciary for 2017 will be as follows:
- President of the CGPJ and of the Supreme Court: Annual Total: 151.186,20
- Vice-President of the Supreme Court: Annual Total: 135.282,32
- Presidents of the Chambers of the Supreme Court: Annual Total: 127.521,18
- Supreme Court Magistrate Judges: Annual Total: 124.202,72
Find out the average response time in the Statistics section.
This information can be consulted in the Supreme Court News section.
Work has already begun on implementing a digital justice system at the Supreme Court. The first steps have been taken in the Chamber of Labour Matters.
Written documents issued by representatives before the courts, State attorneys or those corresponding to the Regional or Local Administration and State Prosecutor’s Office (article 9 of Royal Decree 1065/2015) are presented telematically via the Lex-net system.
Yes. On the transparency portal it is possible to consult the professional profile of each magistrate judge through the Biographies section.
Given that the Supreme Court is the highest jurisdictional body in all areas, it is not possible to appeal its decisions. However, an appeal for constitutional protection can be filed before the Constitutional Court when it is deemed that a fundamental right has been violated.
The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, ensures compliance with the commitments deriving from the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols. It is responsible for interpreting and applying the aforementioned regulations and any individual, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals considered to have been a victim of a violation of the Convention or its Protocols can file a lawsuit before the European Court of Human Rights, after all internal rights of appeal have been exhausted.
The signatory States of the Convention on Human Rights must abide by the definitive judgments passed by the Court in Strasbourg.
The Court of Justice of the European Union, based in Luxembourg, controls the legality of the acts of the Union’s institutions, and it is the only body with the competence to decide on their validity, thus ensuring that the Member States respect the obligations deriving from European Union law.
Likewise, in collaboration with national judges of Member States, it is responsible for interpreting European Union law in order to guarantee the effective and homogeneous application of European legislation and to avoid differences in interpretation.
To this end, national judges are empowered (and in some cases obliged) to address the Court of Justice through a preliminary ruling to request its interpretation on a European regulation (preliminary ruling regarding interpretation) or to decide on its validity (preliminary ruling regarding validity).
Decisions passed by the Court of Justice are binding for all national judges within the European Union, without exception.