VW emissions scandal before Spanish judiciary

The central investigative court in Spain, the Audiencia Nacional, has now officially directed its investigations against Volkswagen AG, after it was given the impression that the Spanish subsidiaries are unlikely to be prosecuted.

It examines the subsidies that may have been wrongly paid and the violations of environmental law. However, it is also a question of the buyers of the 638,000 vehicles sold in Spain, which could be affected by the manipulated reading values of diesel vehicles. Among them are many foreigners, including Germans, who live in Spain.

As in Germany, some buyers have already tried to assert claims for damages before the normal courts and, as in Germany, a uniform line of jurisdiction cannot yet be identified there. Some of the complaints appear to have been dismissed, but surely it is only known from a Decision from March 2016 that went through the press. The judge at first instance was unable to see the damage suffered by the individual and he also wondered whether the relevant dealer or the Spanish VW companies could be held responsible here at all.

These and other issues are currently preoccupying the judiciary worldwide, and so the new decision of the Audiencia Nacional from Madrid is to be described as spectacular; at the same time, it gives hope for compensation to the hundreds of thousands of people affected.

The Audiencia Nacional is a central and in this respect the highest investigative court in Spain. It had been reported to interested parties, but also by consumer associations, and the preliminary investigations heard Luis Comas, the head of the VW-Audi Group in Spain, who stated that all the engines of the vehicles sold in Spain had come from Germany in this (rigged) condition, and therefore the Spanish companies had nothing to do with it.

Since the Central Prosecutor's Office also appears to confirm this in a report, the investigating judge, Ismael Moreno, issued a court order dated 30 May. It was ordered to officially invite Volkswagen AG on June 1, 2016.

If the initial suspicion of fraud, which now exists, is confirmed in this case, a mammoth trial could later take place before a criminal court and – at least for the plaintiffs – also to the recognition of claims for damages. A comparison is also conceivable before the actual process is then made.

In this respect, each person concerned should be advised to enrol in the proceedings.  The law firm SCHOMERUS in Alicante offers as a specialist representation in front of the Audiencia Nacional. RA Dr. Schomerus already represents hundreds of victims in international fraud cases in various other cases in Madrid, such as timeshare, inheritance or lottery fraud. These large-scale proceedings are also dealt with at the Audiencia Nacional.