El Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, declaring the state of alarm for the management of health crisis caused by COVID-19, suspends and interrupts the terms and deadlines for the processing of administrative procedures, which will be resumed once the circumstances that motivate this suspension have been overcome (DA 3a.).
The application of the general suspension of terms is excluded in several cases:
- Cases expressly provided for by RD 463/2020: i) procedures for affiliation, settlement and Social Security contributions, ii) tax deadlines subject to special regulations, (iii) tax returns and self-assessments and, (iv) other cases provided for in the special regulations.
- Cases where it is necessary to rehabilitate the term, previous adoption of motivated resolution: i) procedures that are closely linked to facts justifying the state of alarm, ii) procedures in which the cause of rehabilitation is linked to the protection of the general interest or the basic operation of the services and, (iii) deadlines or execution of procedures to protect the rights and interestseresyou are from the insideeresthrough the adoption of regulatory and instructional measures aimed at avoiding serious harm to theeressat or, if applicable, through the lifting of the suspension, with their express consent in both cases.
Without prejudice to the above, the administrative bodies may carry out internal management actions that do not involve carrying out any administrative action that opens a period outside the exceptional cases. For example, internal technical services may issue reports.
Likewise, the right of the interesto formulate requests, submit applications or request the initiation of an administrative procedure. The interesThey can do this because, thanks to the high degree of development of digital administration, general electronic registers remain open 24×7, but with the acknowledgment of receipt of the request or application, the interessat that the procedure is affected by the suspension of terms and deadlines.
For this reason, it is worth remembering that the owner of the electronic office is responsible for the integrity, veracity and updating of the information and services accessed through it (article 38 Law 40/2015, of 1 d October, of the legal regime of the public sector).
Lastly, it should be noted that this post is for information purposes and, therefore, it is up to each public sector body included in the scope of application of the Royal Decree to evaluate and interpret the provisions in force.
