Legal analysis on the determination of dates in Procedural Communication Acts through LexNET: the Supreme Court Doctrine and the practical controversy.

The legal regime of the system of notifications in the civil jurisdictional order through LexNET is regulated by Law 18/2011, Law 42/2015 and Royal Decree 1065/2015. Several autonomous communities employ similar platforms such as Vereda, Avantius, E-Justicia and Justiziasip. According to Article 151.2 of the LEC, the acts of communication are considered to be carried out on the business day following the date of receipt, and if sent after 15:00 hours, they are considered to be received on the following business day.

The LexNET system has two important functionalities to accredit the receipt of acts of communication: the LexNET Receipt, which is an electronic receipt, and an entry that records data such as the identity of the sender and recipient, date and time of the transaction, and the judicial proceeding to which it refers.

The LEC establishes that the deadlines start from the day following the act of communication, counting the expiration day which expires at twenty-four hours. The acts of communication with attorneys are carried out by telematic or electronic means, according to article 154 of the LEC.

The LexNET system is mandatory for justice professionals, judicial bodies and offices and prosecutors, according to article 273.1 of the LEC and article 5 of RD 1065/2015. In addition, article 135.1 of the LEC establishes that judicial offices and subjects in a process must use telematic or electronic systems, guaranteeing the authenticity of the communication and leaving a reliable record of the issuance and receipt.

Article 162.1 of the LEC establishes that when the parties are obliged to send and receive acts of communication by electronic means, these will be carried out with the corresponding receipt.

In other words, in a simplified manner, the LexNET receipt and the concepts of “Date of Receipt”, “Date of Notification” and the date of the beginning of the computation of the term must be considered in order to calculate the procedural deadlines. Despite the importance of the Date of Receipt, the LEC does not define it, and the interpretation of the First Chamber of the SC is crucial for its determination.

The doctrine of the First Chamber of the Supreme Court interprets Article 151.2 of the LEC, holding that the “Date of Receipt” of the acts of communication corresponds to the “Date/time of sending” appearing on the LexNET receipt. This interpretation is supported in several orders, such as that of July 19, 2023, which establishes that the reception occurs when the judicial body sends the resolution to the service of notifications of the Bar Association.

The doctrine indicates that if the act is sent before 3:00 p.m., it is considered received on that date and carried out on the following business day. If it is sent after 3:00 p.m., it is considered to be received on the following business day and executed on the second business day after the referral. The date to be considered is the “Date/time of sending” that appears in the LexNET message.

The entry in the system of notifications of the Bar Association and the availability of the act to the attorneys are not immediate events, generating divergences of criteria among legal operators. The interpretation is based on technological concepts that are not defined in the LEC nor in RD 1065/2015.

Practical examples are provided to clarify the determination of the “Date of Receipt” in cases of sending before and after 15:00 hours. The complexity of the issue and its impact on procedural deadlines are evident from the number of rulings issued by the Supreme Court on this topic.

- In the first example, the act of communication was sent by the judicial body before 15:00 hours on 08/11/2023. The Common Service of Notifications (SCN) of the Bar Association distributed it to the attorneys the same day. According to Supreme Court doctrine, the “Date of Receipt” is determined by the “Date-Time Sent” on the LexNET Slip, which in this case was 08/11/2023. The “Date of Notification” is considered to be the following business day, 10/11/2023. The computation of the term began on 11/13/2023.

- In the second example, the act of communication was sent after 15:00 hours on 11/16/2023. The “Date of Notification” is considered to be the second following business day, 11/20/2023. The computation of the term started on 11/21/2023. Supreme Court doctrine establishes that the “Date-Time Sent” is crucial to determine the “Date of Receipt”. Examples of court decisions are provided to illustrate the application of this doctrine in various cases over the years.

In summary, the commentary by Nicolás Pérez de Guzmán Pérez Abogado, Uría Menéndez explores the scenarios in which acts of procedural communication are carried out through the LexNET system and the Common Services of Notifications (SCN) of the Bar Associations of Attorneys at Law.Two key moments are highlighted: the “Date-Time Sent” (when the judicial body sends the act of communication to the SNA) and the moment when the SNA “REPORTS IT TO” the attorneys (when they have access to the content).

Cases are analyzed in which the act of communication is sent before 3:00 p.m., but the attorneys do not have access until after that time.The doctrine of the Supreme Court establishes that the “Date of Receipt” is the “Date-Time of Sending”, while the “Date of Notification” is determined according to whether the sending was before or after 15:00 hours.

A question is raised as to whether the “Date of Receipt” should be considered when the attorneys have effective access to the content, arguing that the act of communication is not completed until the parties can access the information.Mention is made of a Constitutional Court Ruling that considers “effective notification” at the moment the party accesses the content, not the date of sending.

In conclusion, it is established that the “Date of Receipt” relevant for the computation of deadlines is the “Date-time of sending”, according to the doctrine of the Supreme Court.The “Date of Notification” is determined according to whether the sending was before or after 3:00 p.m., influencing the beginning of the computation of the term.

Paula Sureda
Illeslex Abogados

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