Josep Gálvez
Josep is a fully qualified barrister and former Judge in Spanish civil & commercial courts currently admitted to practice in the Bars of England & Wales (Lincoln's Inn), Madrid and Barcelona (Spanish Abogado). With extensive experience in litigation and arbitration matters in various industries, Josep has advised and represented clients in commercial and corporate disputes focusing on M&A post-closing conflicts, contractual breach, antitrust litigation and enforcement of judgments, among other areas.
He is ranked in the leading directories for civil and commercial complex cross-border dispute resolution and international arbitration. He has considerable experience concerning freezing injunctions and judgements enforcement. Josep is particularly noted for his cross-examination skills.
Most of Josep's work has a strong international element, with his clients coming from all around the world, particularly from the United Kingdom and the USA. The cases on which he is instructed often raise complex jurisdictional and conflict of laws issues, including the interplay between proceedings in ordinary court and arbitration.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2007
Experience
- Andersen Tax & Legal (2014 - 2016)
- Spanish Judiciary (2009 - 2014)
- Tui Travel PLC (2007 - 2009)
Membership
- Bar England of Wales Member No. 76036
- Madrid Bar No. 128961
- Barcelona Bar No 32071
Education
- Bar Council (2021)
- King's College (2020)
- ESADE (2008)
- Pompeu Fabra University
2 Contributions by Josep Gálvez
PRACTICE NOTES
Spain: Arbitration and State Immunity, jurisdictional exceptions, enforcement and interim measures, implied waiver, mandatory mediation and third-party reliance
Introduction
Although sovereign immunity does not hinder arbitration, the prevailing position is that states remain immune from the reach of Spanish courts. Still, issues concerning state immunity can surface when a claim is lodged in court against a state to challenge or enforce an award, or to secure an injunction in support of arbitration.
The State Immunity Act 2015: General Provisions
The Spanish State Immunity Act 2015 (SIA) transposes into the Spanish legal order the U.N. Convention on State Immunity 2004, despite the convention not having entered into force. Under the SIA, s 4, any foreign State and its assets enjoy immunity from jurisdiction and enforcement before Spanish courts on the terms and conditions laid down in this statute. However, the SIA, s 16 provides a single exception to jurisdictional immunity where there is an arbitration agreement between the State and an individual of another state concerning a commercial transaction. Accordingly, where a foreign State has agreed with a national of another State to submit to arbitration any dispute arising out of a commercial transaction (unless the parties have agreed otherwise), the State may not invoke immunity before a Spanish court in proceedings in respect of:
the
...
Arbitration
PRACTICE NOTES
Spain: challenging court jurisdiction in favour of arbitration (declinatoria), stays, appeals, costs, anti-suit injunctions, and mandatory mediation (SRAC)
Under section 6.3 of the Spanish Civil Procedure Rules 2000 (CPR) and section 11.1 of the Spanish Arbitration Act 2003 (AA), where a claimant issues proceedings in the first instance courts in relation to a dispute that, by reason of a valid arbitration agreement, ought to be determined by an arbitral tribunal, the defendant may contest the court’s competence by lodging a ‘declinatoria de jurisdicción’, or simply ‘declinatoria’. This ‘jurisdictional challenge application’ (also called ‘the declinatoria application’) is a request for an order stating that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case and thereby enforcing the parties’ agreement to arbitrate and to have the arbitral tribunal hear the dispute.
Procedure for disputing the court’s jurisdiction
As the court cannot raise a jurisdictional objection of its own motion (‘de oficio’), the onus lies on the defendant to do so. The defendant has a short period of ten working days, running from the date on which the claim is served on the defendant by the court, to object to the court’s jurisdiction on the basis of the arbitration agreement by filing the jurisdictional challenge application...
Arbitration
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