Attorney-client privilege in Spain is both a right and a duty recognised in Art. 24 CE, the CGAE Deontological Code and Law 34/2006. We analyse its limits: money laundering, duty to report and protection against office searches.
Attorney-client privilege is grounded in Art. 24.2 CE (right to defence, confirmed by STC 228/2006) and Art. 5 CDAE 2019 (continuing obligation after retainer ends).
Key exceptions: AML (Law 10/2010): lawyers in real estate, company formation and fiduciary management must report to SEPBLAC; Art. 450 CP duty: resolved in favour of privilege except for imminent grave risk to life; Home searches: prior judicial authorisation required with Bar Dean present (STS 583/2017).
Breach consequences: Disciplinary sanction, civil liability (Arts. 1902-1903 CC), criminal liability (Arts. 199-200 CP, 1-4 years imprisonment).
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Get started freeRegulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act) is in force. We analyse which AI systems are high-risk for law firms, operator obligations, the Spanish AESIA authority and generative AI implications for legal practice.
Guide to ordinary and extraordinary usucapión (Arts. 1940-1960 Civil Code): continuous possession, just title and good faith, periods of 10/20/3/6 years depending on the type of property, interruption, and declaratory action before the Land Registry.
Guide to the bank guarantee (aval, a surety regulated in Civil Code arts. 1822 ff.) and autonomous first-demand guarantees: key differences, enforcement by the beneficiary, external and internal defences, Supreme Court case law and the manifest abuse exception.