Court runners are professionals with a law degree who specialize in Court proceedings. The Court runner represents the parties in any Court proceedings.
What is the role of a Court runner?
The function of the Court runner is to present and follow up on the legal documents drafted by the lawyer, to ensure that the deadlines set by the Court are met, to collect registration or payment orders in court, to manage court fees, to receive notifications from the Court and bring them to the lawyer’s attention, among many other functions of a more administrative nature.
Is it mandatory to have a Court runner in a Court proceeding?
Yes. The figure of the Court runner is not very common and there are very few countries that have knowledge of it, but in Spain it is mandatory to go to Court with a Court runner who represents you in the procedure (except for some exceptions, such as the minor Court claims where the amount to be claimed is less than 2,000 euros).
What is the difference between a Court runner and a Lawyer in Spain?
The main difference is that the lawyer will be in charge of the defense and will write the pleadings and make any allegations to the Court, while the Court runner or proxy will be in charge only of the representation in Court on a daily basis and, will present all the documentation and notifications of the proceedings on behalf of his client following the lawyers instructions.
How to appoint a Court runner?
The Court runner may be appointed by means of a power of attorney granted before a Public Notary, as determined by article 24 of the Spanish Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil).
A Court runner may also be appointed by means of a document called “apud acta”, for which he/she will have to go personally before the Court secretary to sign have it signed as power of attorney.
What are the fees of a Court runner?
The fees of Court runners have been regulated by their Law Society through the Royal Decree 1373/2003, of 7 November. It regulates the fees accrued by them in all kinds of judicial matters and before Public Administrations and, although the law allows them to be negotiated, this may not exceed more than 12% of what their law society stablishes.
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