A power of attorney is a person's authorization for a third party to act on their behalf.

Difference between a legal representation and a voluntary one

If it is of a legal type, it means that the representation is necessary or mandatory because it is established by a rule with the rank of law; for example, legal entities cannot act by themselves but need a person to take care of them.

On the other hand, a voluntary representation is one that is not determined legally, for example, the one granted in favor of the spouse or family member to present a request to a public body.

Types of powers of attorney

and has defined three types of powers of attorney:

  • " General" power of attorney , so that the agent can act on behalf of the agent in any administrative action and before any Administration.
  • Power of attorney "To an organization" , so that the attorney can act on behalf of the power of attorney in any administrative action before an Administration or a specific organization.
  • "Procedural" power of attorney, so that the attorney can act on behalf of the power of attorney only to carry out certain procedures specified in the power of attorney before a specific Administration or body.

Additionally, representations must also indicate capabilities, which may be:

  • All (which includes Process, View, and Receive Notifications), or,
  • The combination of the partial capacities (Process, Consult and Receive notifications), which can be:
    • Process
    • consult
    • Receive notifications
    • Process and Consult
    • Process and Receive notifications
    • Consult and Receive notifications

Attention! Representations with partial capacities will not be interoperable with other proxy registers. Therefore, if you create a representation with any capacity other than "All" it will only be valid within the framework of Representa user entities.

What are the possible states of a representation? (life cycle)

The possible states of a representation are:

  • VALID >> Representation valid and valid.
  • PENDING VALIDATION >> Documentation has been provided that must be reviewed and validated in order to change the status to VALID or DENIED.
  • PENDING_ACCEPTACIO >> The power of attorney or representative has made a representation without documentation to be validated and the other party must explicitly accept it to change the status to VALIDATED. Any of the two parties, however, can decide to cancel it, changing to WAIVER or REVOCATED (depending on who takes the action). When a Validation query is made a representation in this state cannot be used to answer affirmatively. After 40 days in this state, if it has not been accepted or canceled (revocation or resignation), it automatically becomes void.
  • SIGNATURE PENDING >> Once the service receives a request for registration or modification of a representation, a signed evidence is generated. If this signature fails, this representation is placed in pending signature status and retried until the signature is completed correctly.
  • DENIED >> Once the documentation attached to the registration has been reviewed and the representation denied.
  • EXPIRED >> A representation that was previously VALID or PENDING VALIDATION, but as of the current date is out of its validity period.
  • WAIVER >> The representative waives the representation.
  • REVOCATION >> The power of attorney revokes the representation.
  • CANCELLED >> Exceptional state in which for some reason a public employee invalidates a representation.

Pending_life_cycle (2).png

Amendment management is not currently allowed within the tool, so if a representation is denied you must re-apply. We are evaluating implementing an amendment management mechanism that allows from a rejected representation to generate another one, fixing what is wrong more quickly.

What is the Representa portal address for citizens?

A portal exists so that citizens and companies can consult, create or manage their representations for actions before public administrations.

Access to the portal is through a URL that changes depending on the entity and which is:

https://representa.cat/representa/ciutada?codi= x x= codI INE10 without initial 0

Therefore, there is one instance for each user registered with the service.

To whom can I grant a power of attorney or representation?
To any natural or legal person, while providing their data (name or company name and NIF or identification number, at least).
What term of validity does a power of attorney or representation have?
Whatever is fixed in the creation of the power of attorney and in any case, no more than 5 years which is what the Law establishes.
When does a power of attorney or representation come into effect?

The power of attorney takes effect:

  • once accepted, in cases that require subsequent acceptance by the representative.
  • once validated, in cases that require subsequent validation by the administration.
Are the powers of attorney registered in some online register?
Powers of attorney that are registered are registered in the Representa, and the proof of registration can be consulted and downloaded by either party. It is not a public record, therefore, it cannot be consulted by anyone, but only by public administrations for the management of actions with representatives.
What can an attorney do on my behalf?
You can carry out any procedure in any public administration for which you have explicitly authorized it.
What procedures can be done over the Internet regarding powers of attorney?

The procedures that can be carried out by a citizen, professional or company via the Internet regarding powers of attorney are:

  • Grant a power of attorney
  • Request the registration of a previously existing power of attorney
  • Consult the powers of attorney
  • Cancel a power of attorney
  • Accept as a representative, a power of attorney granted by another person
Can representations be granted to do the idCAT?

In Representa, representations cannot be registered for the proxy to request the idCAT (certificate or mobile) in the name of the proxy.

In accordance with the regulatory regulations, obtaining the electronic signature mechanisms must be done in person by the interested person; in other words, it is a very personal act that involves addressing a public administration.

The above is excepted when the interested party uses another digital certificate to request the certificate (digitally) or, a third party brings the application form with the interested party's notarized signature.

As you can see, these are two highly valued cases where there is reliable evidence of identity verification, which cannot be transferred to the powers of Representa.