Partner

Javier Torre de Silva

Global Co-Head of Communications, TMC

Languages

Spanish
English
French
Italian

Javier Torre de Silva has been practising as a lawyer at CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo for 28 years, working across several legal disciplines. He currently leads the CMS global telecommunications group and is Head of the TMC department at CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo. Javier also advises on public law and regulated sectors and is Co-head of the firm's infrastructure team, as well as dedicating a significant amount of time to arbitration and civil law concerning contracts, the topic on which he based his doctoral thesis.

He is on professional leave from his role as a State Attorney, a position he held for over 12 years where he was responsible for hundreds of judgments on diverse matters, including constitutional reform and the majority of the regulations on the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Spain, not to mention his work on numerous public contracts and regulated sectors.

He is a member and representative of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Committee at the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation. Over a number of years he has spoken at the "Don Federico de Castro" seminar on civil law at the Royal Academy.

He wrote his doctoral thesis on contract law at the Royal College of Spain in Bologna under the guidance of Luis Díez-Picazo (Spain) and Francesco Galgano (Italy), achieving the highest level of distinction. The thesis was based on liability for a breach of contractual obligations.

He has acted as an arbitrator on a number of occasions and been involved in arbitration proceedings as both counsel and lead attorney. He is a member of the ICC Arbitration and ADR Comission.

He has been involved in countless corporate deals, in particular those relating to the sale and purchase of enterprises.

Javier has been a member of the FIDE Academic Council since 2024.

He is an accredited doctoral professor in undergraduate administrative law, a topic which he has been teaching for 20 years.

Javier has been named a leading lawyer by the most prestigious legal directories such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. Moreover, he has also been selected by several institutions as one of the 50 Best Lawyers in Spain with regards to contract law. He is also a member of ITech Law.

In addition to his work at the firm, he also provides a private client service.

Relevant experience

Galp | Sale of the Madrid-based gas company by the Galp Group to Endesa.
Acciona | Acquisition of Endesa by Acciona and Enel via takeover.
Citi Infrastructuras| Sale of ITINERE (infrastructure licensee) to Citi Infrastructuras.
Ferrrovial | Advice to the Board of Directors of Ferrovial and other companies within the group.
Telefónica | Contentious-administrative case involving Telefónica (amount exceeding EUR 600 million).
Equidosa | Contentious-administrative case involving Equidosa (amount exceeding EUR 100 million).
Globalvía and others | Several contentious-administrative cases concerning the reinstatement of the economic-financial balance of infrastructure licences for Globalvía, Equidosa and other licensees.
Involvement in disputes relating to the interpretation, amendment and termination of public contracts and licences.
Involved in the Council of State judgment on the constitutional reform.
Spanish Government | Government research programme on the functioning of institutions advising the British Government, organised by the Council of State in collaboration with the British Embassy in London.

Publications

Regulating general-purpose artificial intelligence models: unresolved issues. Anuario de Derecho Administrativo, 2024.
Culpa lata dolo aequiparatur in clauses limiting liability? Anuario de Derecho Civil, 2024.
The Right to Scrape Data on the Internet: From the US Case hiQLabs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp. to The ChatGPT Scraping Cases-Differences Between US and EU Law. 2024.
La presunzione di colpa nella responsabilià contrattuale. Bologna, 2023.
"Is there a right of access to information on all sanctions imposed on legal persons?" Revista de Administración Pública, 2023, 221, 231-256.
"On the alleged legal duty to bear damages caused by a reasonable and reasoned invalid act" Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo, 2022.
The automatized administrative acts. In: Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo 2021.
Liability for damage caused by artificial intelligence systems. Derecho Digital e Innovación, nº 11, 2022.
The anti-formalist principle in online administration. In: Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo 2020.
Law and the state of emergency. A temporary shift in regulation. In: Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.),Anuario de Derecho Administrativo, Before the next pandemic. Thomson-Reuters Aranzadi, 2020. ISBN: 978-84-1346-893-8.
The revoking of unfavourable and voidable acts at the request of the subject. In: Recuerda Girela, M. A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo 2019.
Data according to Private Law. 2019 Civil Law Annual, III term.
Construction works contracts entered into by Compensation Boards: Competent jurisdiction and exorbitant prerogatives. In: Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo 2016.
Compensation for damages in cases relating to the termination of administrative licences: unearned tax income. In: Recuerda Girela, M.A. (Dir.), Anuario de Derecho Administrativo 2015.
The impact of insolvency on public sector contracts. In: “Agreements Treaty”, 2014.
Issues relating to the expiry of administrative proceedings. In: “Administrative Law Annual”, 2014.
Public Contracts (various chapters). Madrid, 2004.
Administrative silence and the expiry of administrative proceedings in relation to public contracts: in particular, termination due to a breach by the contracting party. In: “Spanish Administrative Law Magazine”.
Decisions that can be challenged by means of the extraordinary appeal. In “Spanish Administrative Law Magazine”, 2003.
The Council of State doctrine on telecommunications and services in the information society. In: “Official State Gazette, Council of State collection”.
Santi Romano. In “Universal Lawyers”, Dir. Rafael Domingo, 2004.
Internet, industrial property and unfair competition. Centre of Political and Constitutional Studies).
Limits to the “privatization” of Trademarks Law. In “Commercial Law Review”, 2002.
La presunzione di colpa nella responsabilità contrattuale. Doctoral thesis. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Università di Bologna (Royal College of Spain), 1992.

Memberships & Roles

Member of the Council of State Attorney Corps since 1997 (on professional leave).
Member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation.
Member of the Civil and Commercial Arbitration Court of Madrid.
Member of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Lectures list

Javier has spoken at numerous conferences and been involved in round table discussions on diverse subjects within the field of Administrative and Corporate Law (INAP, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the International Bar Association and the Centre of Political and Constitutional Studies).
Speaker at Cátedra Google (Universidad CEU San Pablo, Madrid).

Education

2012 - Accreditation as Doctoral Professor.
1998 - Financial and Business Science Studies, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain).
1997 - Attorney for the Council of State, graduating as the top ranked individual (Spain).
1992 - Doctorate in Civil Law (thesis entitled "La presunzione di colpa nella responsabilità contrattuale"), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Università di Bologna (Royal College of Spain).
1990 - Graduate of Law and Degree in Philosophy (National Degree Award and Extraordinary Degree Award), Universidad de Navarra (Spain).

sectors

TMC - Technology, Media & Communications Infrastructure & Project Finance Private Clients

Practice Areas

Public Law & Regulated Sectors Public Procurement Real Estate

Insights

Global Reach

Insights

Global Reach

Select your region

Javier Torre de Silva

Global Co-Head of Communications, TMC

Languages

Relevant experience

Publications

Memberships & Roles

Lectures list

Education

sectors

Practice Areas

Insights by Javier

Looking ahead to the EU AI Act

CMS Expert Guide to 5G regulation and law

European Parliament opposes EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework proposal

Insights

Global Reach

Select your region

Javier Torre de Silva

Global Co-Head of Communications, TMC

Languages

Relevant experience

Publications

Memberships & Roles

Lectures list

Education

sectors

Practice Areas

Insights by Javier

CMS Network Sharing 5: Celebrating 10 years of the Network Sharing Study

Looking ahead to the EU AI Act

CMS Expert Guide to 5G regulation and law

European Parliament opposes EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework proposal