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SCJE · COSTS AND FEESAssessment of costs and lawyer’s fees calculator
Scale by amount in dispute and itemised criminal fee note, applying the guideline criteria of the Alicante Bar Association and of the Madrid Bar Association in parallel
Two Bar Associations, two results. The Bar Associations’ criteria are not tariffs: they are guidelines issued by the Bars solely for the purposes of the assessment of costs and of the summary fee recovery procedure, under the fourth additional provision of the Professional Associations Act. Applying Alicante and Madrid to the same matter gives a realistic range of what a court may consider reasonable. The calculation runs in your browser and no data is sent or stored.
TOOLSCalculation
1. Scale by amount in dispute
It applies simultaneously the scale of the Alicante Provincial Bar Association and that of the Madrid Bar Association. Both are banded scales: each percentage applies only to the corresponding excess, not to the whole base.
Enter the amount in dispute of the proceedings.
2. Itemised criminal fee note
State how many times each step has accrued. The Alicante column reflects the criteria of the Alicante Bar and the Madrid column the reference values of the Madrid Bar. A dash indicates that the Bar in question sets no specific amount for that item.
| Step | Alicante | Madrid | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance on a detainee, a person under investigation, a prisoner or a victim | 200 € | 270 € | |
| Hearing on personal situation (pre-trial detention) | 300 € | 300 € | |
| Habeas corpus proceedings | 300 € | 440 € | |
| Report of an offence (denuncia) | 200 € | 300 € | |
| Criminal complaint (querella) of no particular complexity | 400 € | 600 € | |
| Complex criminal complaint (querella), with documents and proposed evidence | 400 € | 1500 € | |
| Purely procedural submission (entry of appearance, copies of the record, change of address) | 100 € | 85 € | |
| Reasoned or substantiated submission | 150 € | 170 € | |
| Submission on the personal situation of the person under investigation | 200 € | 375 € | |
| Submission seeking the dismissal of the proceedings or opposing it | 400 € | 600 € | |
| Attendance at each examination before the court | 150 € | 250 € | |
| Attendance at a step taken outside the court | 200 € | 350 € | |
| Criminal interim measures for the protection of the victim | 200 € | 250 € | |
| Civil interim measures (gender violence) | 200 € | 250 € | |
| Written indictment or defence statement (abbreviated procedure) | 300 € | 550 € | |
| Provisional statement of the case (ordinary committal procedure) | 500 € | 800 € | |
| Preliminary objections | 300 € | 550 € | |
| Trial before the Criminal Court | 500 € | 650 € | |
| Each additional session of the hearing | 200 € | 300 € | |
| Trial before the Provincial Court (abbreviated procedure) | 800 € | — | |
| Fast-track trial: investigation and written indictment or defence statement | 300 € | 350 € | |
| Appeal against an order dismissing the proceedings | 300 € | 750 € | |
| Appeal against a judgment of the Criminal Court | 500 € | 1300 € | |
| Hearing of the appeal | 200 € | 500 € | |
| Complaint appeal (recurso de queja) | 200 € | 600 € | |
| Appeal for reconsideration (recurso de súplica) | 200 € | 450 € | |
| Preparation of the cassation appeal (infringement of substantive law and of procedure) | 400 € | 500 € | |
| Lodging or contesting the cassation appeal | — | 2600 € | |
| Hearing of the cassation appeal with oral submissions | — | 2000 € | |
| Application for review of final judgments | 600 € | — | |
| Nullity incidental proceedings against a judgment | 400 € | 850 € |
Tick the steps that have accrued.
CONTEXTHow an assessment of costs is built up
An assessment of costs rests on two distinct elements. The first is the scale by amount in dispute, which operates through decreasing bands: a high percentage on the first euros and progressively lower percentages on the excess. The two scales on this page proceed from different philosophies. The Alicante scale begins at 42 % on the first 300 euros and falls to 1 % above 3,500,000. The Madrid scale begins at 25 % on the first 4,000 euros and reaches 0.5 %, and above 2,700,000 euros it expressly declines to set any percentage, referring instead to a prudential assessment.
The second element is the applicable percentages. The full scale accrues only where the proceedings run their entire course. Where the matter ends earlier, or where there is submission to the claim, discontinuance or settlement, the criteria provide for reductions: 60 % for discontinuance or non-appearance, 75 % where there is no opposition, 25 % of the scale on dismissal of criminal proceedings with effective intervention by the defence. Increases also apply, such as 10 % for each additional opposing counsel, capped at 40 %.
In criminal matters the logic changes entirely. As there is no amount in dispute, the fee note is built up by adding together the steps taken: each attendance on a detainee, each reasoned submission, each session of the hearing has its own reference value. Only civil liability is calculated by applying the scale to the sum claimed. Two criminal cases of equal gravity may therefore generate very different fee notes according to how many steps of the investigation were carried out.
Two limits should be borne in mind. That of article 394.3 of the Civil Procedure Act, which, absent a declaration of recklessness, limits costs to one third of the amount in dispute for each successful litigant. And that of article 246 of the Civil Procedure Act, which allows the fee note to be challenged as excessive, a procedure in which the Bar issues the report that these criteria serve to guide.
FURTHER RESOURCESOther tools
SCJE · ALICANTE AND MADRIDHave you been sent a fee note you consider excessive?
Related content
Statutory basis of this subject
Text in force according to the consolidated version of the Spanish Official State Gazette, with the constituent elements of the offence and the applicable lines of defence.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Bar Associations’ criteria fee tariffs?
No. They are guidelines issued by the Bars solely for the purposes of the assessment of costs and of the summary fee recovery procedure, under the fourth additional provision of the Professional Associations Act.
Why are two Bar Associations compared?
Because applying to the same matter the scale of the Alicante Provincial Bar Association and that of the Madrid Bar Association offers a realistic range of what a court may consider reasonable.
Which calculations does the tool allow?
The scale by amount in dispute, applied simultaneously under both Bars, and the criminal fee note itemised by heading.
Is the data entered stored?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and no data is sent or stored.
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