High courts of justice (Spain)

The autonomous communities possess their own legislative and executive powers, conferred on them under their Statute of Autonomy or transferred from the state, in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

Moreover, the legislative assembly of each community takes part in the appointment of one-third of the members of the civil and penal chamber of the respective superior court of justice: the assembly draws up a shortlist and presents it to the General Council of the Judiciary, which selects one of the candidates for the position in question.

Judges are selected by competition, taking account of their current judicial position, with places reserved for candidates with special expertise in each branch of the judiciary.

One-third of positions in the Civil and Penal Chamber are allocated to lawyers of acknowledged distinction selected by the General Council of the Judiciary from a shortlist drawn up by the legislative assembly of the respective autonomous community.

The Social Chamber deals with disputes affecting the interests of workers and business people, according to the law and where the scope of the issue is greater than that of a lower court but not beyond the autonomous community.