Anyone summoned to testify as a witness in a Spanish court case can request compensation for the expenses the appearance causes them, lawyer Ana Rodríguez has said, but that payment does not come from the court itself.
Rodríguez said the cost must instead be covered directly by the party that proposed calling the witness to give evidence, a detail she said often surprises people who receive a summons.
Legal basis in the Civil Procedure Law
The right to this compensation has an explicit basis in Spanish law, Rodríguez said. She explained that Article 375 of the Civil Procedure Law, known in Spain as the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, recognizes a witness's right to be indemnified for the expenses and losses caused by their appearance before the court.
The Civil Procedure Law is the statute that governs how civil trials are conducted in Spain, setting out the rules for evidence, hearings and the parties involved. Rodríguez said this legal framework protects witnesses from financial harm caused by having to attend a hearing.
When several parties call the same witness
Rodríguez also addressed what happens when more than one party in a case requests testimony from the same witness. In those situations, she said, the expense is prorated, meaning it is split equally among all the parties that asked for the witness to appear.
That rule, she said, ensures the cost is shared fairly and does not fall entirely on a single litigant when several sides in the dispute required the same person to testify.
How the compensation amount is fixed
The exact sum a witness is entitled to is not set automatically or arbitrarily by the court, Rodríguez said. She specified that the amount is fixed by the letrado de la administración de justicia, the judicial official who handles court administration, by means of a formal decree.
That decree, she said, is based on whatever the witness is able to prove through supporting documentation. Rodríguez said it is essential for witnesses to submit documentary evidence showing the costs they actually incurred, since the ruling on compensation depends on it.
What happens if the paying party refuses
Rodríguez also explained what legal steps are available if the party ordered to pay avoids the obligation. She said that if the responsible party does not pay within 10 days of the ruling becoming final, the witness can turn to enforcement proceedings, known in Spanish law as the procedimiento de apremio.
That mechanism, she said, exists to guarantee that the compensation recognized in the court's decision is actually collected, giving witnesses a legal route to enforce payment when the obligated party fails to act voluntarily.
