orden de entrada y registro; orden de registro de entrada

These expressions are admittedly confusingly similar, but couldn’t be more different in meaning. Orden de entrada y registro (often shortened to orden de registro) is a criminal law term, being the Spanish equivalent of a “search warrant” ordered by a judge incident to a criminal investigation. Although orden de registro is a commonly used expression, in Spain a search warrant must be issued in the form of an auto, and thus is more properly called an auto de entrada y registro.

In contrast orden de registro de entrada denotes the order in which an application or other document has been filed for entry on an public register and is often important for establishing prior rights in many legal transactions. The “first to file” system is characteristic of many official registers governed by the prior in tempore, potior in jure principle. This idea of “earlier in time, stronger in right” implies that earlier applicants (the first to file their applications) will have superior (prior) rights with respect to those who do so later. For example, in the context of registering a trademark, the first application received (and subsequently granted registration) at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas) will have exclusive rights to use that mark.

Intellectual property and other rights can be based on the “first to use” principle or the “first to file” principle.” In “first to file” systems such as in Spain and most civil law countries, regardless of prior use the first person to file an application and to be granted registration will be considered as the legal owner to the exclusion of all others. Thus the order in which applications are received at public registries or in other governmental agencies is often of paramount importance. Registro de entrada denotes a daily register of applications filed, and orden de registro de entrada is the order in which a given application was received, generally based on a date, time and an application number. Thus the expression riguroso orden de registro de entrada de las solicitudes is often used to indicate that applications will be considered “strictly in the order in which they were filed.”

These similar expressions reflect two very different legal concepts. En légitima defensa is the Spanish criminal law expression for “in self defense” and legítima defensa may contstitute a circumstance that exonerates one from criminal liability (eximente de la responsabilidad criminal). In that regard a person repelling an unlawful aggression (agresión ilegítima) in self-defense or in defense of his rights or the rights of others (en legítima defensa de la persona o de derechos propios o ajenos) may in certain circumstances be deemed free of criminal liability.

In contrast, in procedural terminology (derecho a la) autodefensa is a totally unrelated expresion denoting a party’s legally-established right (in limited cases) to represent himself at trial without the assistance of a lawyer or (in Spain) a procurador (litigar sin abogado o procurador). In the US this is known as “pro se (or) pro per representation,”* and in this context autodefensa denotes “pro se (or) pro per defense,” while el derecho de asumir (or) ejercer la autodefensa is expressed as the “right to proceed pro se (or) pro per.” In England and Wales “pro se litigation” is called “litigation in person,” and a “pro se (or) pro per litigant” is a “litigant in person.” “Self-represented litigant” and “unrepresented litigant” are additional variants.

And the idea that representing oneself in court may not be a good idea exists in both languages. Indeed, the well-known admonishment “he who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client” is often reflected in Spanish as quien se defiende a sí mismo tiene un tonto por cliente.

*pro se, Latin for “for oneself” or “on one’s own behalf;” pro per, a shortened form of the Latin expression in propria persona