As the Brexit date approaches we thought it would be a great idea to speak to one of the head lawyers at Spanish law firm M1 Legal to look into the effects of cross-border litigation post-brexit.
To instigate a claim against a timeshare resort in Spain, timeshare owners are required to arrange a Power of Attorney (notarised) in order to legally have a cross-border law firm act on their behalf.
Head lawyer at M1 legal Adriana Stoyanova reported;
“The UK is a part of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (1961) since 1965. In the event that according to the purchase contract (mainly in the cases of a Spanish vendor company) we can initiate a claim in Spain, a Power of attorney will be required as usual, notarised either in the UK with apostille or in Spain, Brexit will not affect this aspect.”
In many cases especially with the larger timeshare resorts such as Club La Costa and Diamond Resorts, once a lawsuit is submitted to the Spanish courts the resorts will automatically appeal the decision on jurisdiction arguing that the case should not be heard in Spain in an attempt to get the case thrown out.
Stoyanova reported; “This means that after Brexit, in the event that there is a jurisdictional issue the court will first check whether the jurisdictional clause is valid or not. In the event that we prove that the jurisdictional clause is not valid, the court has to apply Art. 22 fifteenth of the Spanish Organic Law of Judicial Power and the claim could be processed in Spain.”
A lot of consumers are asking what impact Brexit may have on their rights to claim in Spain.
Stoyanova reported;
“No matter the outcome of Brexit, it will NOT affect your rights to claim if you are a victim of a mis-sold timeshare.”
Recently it was announced that Britain’s oldest travel company Thomas Cook went bust, there has been a lot of media coverage about this however a lesser known fact about Thomas Cook is that they were discretely involved in timeshare since the Mid 90’s. Reports are still emerging as to exactly what led to Thomas Cook collapsing and at this stage we cannot comment on whether their timeshare division contributed towards their downfall.
To seek further advice you can call our friendly advice team on 0203 807 3388 or find out how much your potential claim is worth by completing our “all-new” claims calculator.
For further information or if you have any queries about your timeshare, please call our advice line on 0203 807 3388 or email pr@timeshareadvicecentre.co.uk.
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