As provided in article 27.1 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the common administrative procedure of public administrations (LPACAP), each public administration must determine the bodies that have been assigned the powers to issue authentic copies of public administrative or private documents.

Then, section 4 of the same article establishes the powers of these employees:

  • The issuance of authentic copies of public administrative documents validly issued by the Public Administrations, when requested by the person concerned. In this case, the official authorized to issue the authentic copies can only make them if he has been granted this power by the body that issued the original document. Otherwise, you will have to send the request to the issuing body of the original document, which will have to issue them within 15 counting days from the receipt of the request in the electronic register of the Administration or competent body.
  • When the interested person presents paper documents to be included in an administrative file, the Administration must issue an authentic electronic copy.
Legal context

Law 39/2015

Article 27. Validity and effectiveness of copies made by public administrations.

"1. Each public administration must determine the bodies that have been assigned the powers to issue authentic copies of public administrative or private documents.
Authentic copies of private documents only have administrative effects. The authentic copies made by a public administration are valid for the rest of the administrations.
For these purposes, the General Administration of the State, the autonomous communities and the local entities can make authentic copies through an authorized official or through an automated administrative action.
A register must be kept up-to-date, or another equivalent system, in which the officials qualified to issue authentic copies are recorded, which must be fully interoperable and interconnected with those of the rest of the public administrations, for the purposes of verifying the validity of the aforementioned qualification. This register or equivalent system must contain, at least, the officials who provide services in the assistance offices in matters of records.
[...]
4. Those interested can request, at any time, the issuance of authentic copies of public administrative documents that public administrations have validly issued. The request must be addressed to the body that issued the original document, which must be issued, except for the exceptions derived from the application of Law 19/2013, of December 9, in the period of fifteen days from the receipt of the request in the electronic register of the Administration or competent body.
Also, the public administrations are obliged to issue authentic electronic copies of any paper document presented by the interested parties and which must be included in an administrative file [...]. "
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