# Resolving Disputes

Law I · Foundations of Law · https://tryals.app/learn/law-i/resolving-disputes

### The Prohibition of Self-Help

**Autotutela** means enforcing your own right by force. It is strictly prohibited under Spanish law, even if your claim is genuine.

Because the state forbids self-help, the Spanish **Constitution** guarantees effective judicial protection under Article 24.1 CE.

### Available Routes

| Route | Decision Maker | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| **Autocomposition** | The parties | Negotiation, mediation, settlement |
| **Heterocomposition** | A neutral third party | Arbitration, judicial process |

Mediation counts as **autocomposition** because the mediator facilitates rather than decides. In arbitration, the arbitrator decides with binding effect.

### The Jurisdictional Function

Under Article 117 CE, **Justice** emanates from the people. Judges are **independent, irremovable, accountable and subject only to the rule of law**.

Article 24.2 CE guarantees an **ordinary judge predetermined by law**. There are **four** ordinary jurisdictional orders:

* Civil
* Criminal
* Contentious-administrative
* Social

### The Constitutional Court

The **Tribunal Constitucional** (or **Constitutional Court**) sits entirely outside the ordinary judiciary. It reviews statutes against **The** Constitution and protects fundamental rights.

It consists of **twelve** magistrates. It is not an ordinary court of appeal.

> **Common pitfall:** Treating the **Constitutional Court** as a regular fourth instance. It only hears constitutional matters, not routine appeals.

### International Courts

**Three** international courts matter for a **Spanish** lawyer:

* **Court of Justice of the European Union**: Based in **Luxembourg**, this EU court interprets EU law via preliminary rulings.
* **European Court of Human Rights**: Based in **Strasbourg**, this Council of **Europe** organ protects **Human Rights** after domestic remedies are exhausted.
* **International Court of Justice**: Based in The Hague, it settles legal disputes between states.

## Practice questions

8 of this lesson's 14 practice questions, with answers. The full set is in the app.

### 1. Mediation and arbitration both involve a neutral third party, yet they belong to fundamentally different dispute-resolution categories. What determines this conceptual divide, and what does it mean for the parties involved?

A. Arbitration leaves the final settlement entirely in the parties' hands
B. The neutral party only possesses adjudicative power in arbitration
C. Mediation binds the parties once proceedings have formally commenced
D. Heterocomposition applies exclusively when state judges are involved

**Answer:** B. The neutral party only possesses adjudicative power in arbitration

**Why:** Confusing the presence of a third party with the power to impose an outcome ignores the core distinction of decision-making authority. Outside the judiciary, private neutrals can still render binding decisions in arbitration, while mediators solely assist party-driven resolution.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/mediation-and-arbitration-both-involve-a-neutral-third-party-yet

### 2. Why is the Constitutional Court not part of the Poder Judicial, even though it decides cases and its decisions bind?

A. It functions as an autocomposition body where magistrates mediate state disputes instead of issuing rulings
B. It is an international treaty body like the ECHR, placed outside domestic jurisdiction to oversee compliance
C. It acts as a specialised fourth appeal instance reviewing facts when ordinary courts make conflicting decisions
D. It is a separate constitutional organ that reviews norms and rights rather than hearing ordinary litigation

**Answer:** D. It is a separate constitutional organ that reviews norms and rights rather than hearing ordinary litigation

**Why:** Because it answers a **different question**. The ordinary courts decide who wins the dispute; the Constitutional Court decides whether a norm is compatible with the Constitution, whether a fundamental right was violated, and who was competent. That is why an *amparo* that simply repeats the arguments already rejected below is not a constitutional case at all.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/why-is-the-constitutional-court-not-part-of-the-poder-judicial-even

### 3. Spanish criminal law punishes realising a right of your own by force outside the legal channels, even where the right genuinely exists.

**Answer:** True

**Why:** **True.** Article 455 CP punishes acting outside the legal channels, with violence, intimidation or force on property, to realise a right of one's own. The genuineness of the right is not a defence, it is a presupposition of the offence. The prohibition of self-help is what obliges the state to supply a route, which is the guarantee in Article 24.1 CE.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/spanish-criminal-law-punishes-realising-a-right-of-your-own-by-force

### 4. Which are true of arbitration in Spain?

A. An arbitrator forms part of the judicial power and exercises jurisdiction on the state's behalf
B. The award binds the parties and has the effect of res judicata
C. Compulsory enforcement of an award requires the intervention of a court
D. The parties must have agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration

**Answer:** B. The award binds the parties and has the effect of res judicata; C. Compulsory enforcement of an award requires the intervention of a court; D. The parties must have agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration

**Why:** The fourth misplaces the arbitrator entirely. Jurisdictional power belongs exclusively to the courts determined by statute; the arbitrator's authority comes from the parties' agreement, which is why arbitration cannot be imposed on someone who never consented and why the state's courts are still needed for compulsory enforcement.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/which-are-true-of-arbitration-in-spain

### 5. A judgment of the European Court of Human Rights finding a violation automatically annuls the national judgment complained of.

**Answer:** False

**Why:** **False.** The Court declares the violation and may award just satisfaction; how effect is given to that is left to the respondent state. Spanish law provides a route to seek revision of a final judgment before the Supreme Court once a violation is declared, which exists precisely because annulment is not automatic.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/a-judgment-of-the-european-court-of-human-rights-finding-a-violation

### 6. How many magistrates sit on the Spanish Constitutional Court?

**Answer:** 12

**Why:** **Twelve**, appointed for nine-year terms and renewed by thirds every three years, so four seats change hands at each renewal. The staggering is deliberate: it stops any single parliamentary majority from appointing the whole court, which is the structural defence of a body whose job is to review what parliamentary majorities enact.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/how-many-magistrates-sit-on-the-spanish-constitutional-court

### 7. Arrange these courts by the year they were established or began work.

**Answer:**

1. The International Court of Justice, 1945
2. The Court of Justice of the European Communities, 1952
3. The European Court of Human Rights, 1959
4. The International Criminal Court, 2002

**Why:** The sequence tracks a widening of who can be brought before an international court. In 1945 only states could be parties; by 1959 an individual could complain about a state; by 2002 an individual could be tried by one. Each step required a treaty that a good many states declined to join.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/arrange-these-courts-by-the-year-they-were-established-or-began-work

### 8. Sort each route by the way it resolves a dispute.

**Answer:**

- Autocomposition: Direct negotiation, Mediated agreement
- Heterocomposition: Binding arbitration, Court judgment
- Prohibited self-help: Forced goods seizure, Self-help lock eviction

**Why:** The mediator is the item that decides whether you have understood the distinction. A third person is present, active and often decisive in practice, and still the parties are the ones who decide, which puts mediation in the first column beside plain negotiation rather than beside arbitration.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/law-i/resolving-disputes/sort-each-route-by-the-way-it-resolves-a-dispute