Declaration on the state of emergency, Royal Decree No. 463/2020 of March 14 on crisis management in the field of health (Real Decreto 463/2020, do 14 de marzo, para la gestión de la situación de crisis sanitaria ocasionada por el COVID-19) , caused by COVID-19, provided in its third additional provision, the suspension of the deadlines and the suspension of the processing of administrative procedures, regulation, which was amended by Royal Decree 465/2020 (Real Decreto 465/2020) and which raises some questions in its application, to which we will try to give an answer from the final forged and aimed at protecting the public interest.

Regulatory and legal framework

A general direction was envisaged to guarantee the rights of citizens in their relations with state administrations, for example, suspension of administrative terms in the following appointments:

1. Suspension of deadlines for the processing of public sector facilities. The calculation of the terms will be renewed at the moment when the present royal decree or, if necessary, its extension becomes invalid.
2. Suspension and termination of terms will apply to the entire public sector, as defined in Law 39/2015 of October 1 on the General Administrative Procedure of Public Administration.
3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the competent authority may, on the basis of an informed decision, agree on management and coaching measures strictly necessary to avoid serious harm to the rights and interests of the interested party in the procedure, and provided that the latter expresses its consent or when the interested person expresses agreement that the term is not suspended
4. This provision does not affect the procedures and decisions referred to in the first section when they relate to situations closely related to facts justifying emergency situations.

The application of general rules

1. All procedures are suspended and all administrative procedures are interrupted
2. The competent authority may, on a motivated basis, agree on management and coaching measures strictly necessary to avoid serious damage to the rights and interests of the interested party in the procedure, and provided that the latter expresses its consent or when the interested party expresses consent that the deadline will be suspended or interrupted.
3. The competent authority may reasonably agree to continue those administrative procedures that are associated with situations that are closely related to the facts justifying the state of emergency, or that are necessary to protect common interests or for the operation of basic services.
4. The suspension and interruption of the periods referred to in Section 1 shall not apply to administrative procedures in the areas of accession, liquidation and contributions to the social security system, nor to the terms of taxation periods. Nevertheless, an amendment was adopted in connection with the emergency – our previous article on the Measures taken by the Tax of Spain in the Emergency Situation caused by Coronavirus # covid19

(Justified) Exceptions to the general rule of suspension of deadlines

Once the general rule for suspending a process has been established, a series of exceptions are established, fortunately, with a certain margin of action.

1. Actions in the procedure to avoid serious damage to the rights and interests of the interested party to the procedure, if the latter agrees
2. Actions in procedures when the interested party agrees that the term is not suspended (in cases 1 and 2, I deliberately omit the reference to acts of instruction and ordination, since both in the hermeneutical and literal interpretation I understand that all types of agreement, without damage to its notice and suspension)
3. Administrative procedures necessary to protect common interests
4. Administrative procedures required for basic services
5. Administrative procedures that relate to situations that are closely related to the facts justifying the state of emergency
6. Industry exceptions: membership, liquidation and contribution to the social security system, as well as tax periods and without prejudice to the special provision contained in article 34 of RD-Ley 8/2020

source