Legal dictionary
Concepts of Spanish Criminal Code, Spanish Criminal Procedure Act and other standards, with clear explanation, reference articles and related services.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A criminal procedure for offences within its statutory scope, covering investigation and trial preparation, dismissal, accusation, defence and trial decisions. Its name does not guarantee a simple or short case.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A judgment that does not convict on the allegations tried. Its grounds, scope and available appeals must be read. Acquittal does not automatically prove a false report or mean the same as dismissal during investigation.
Spanish Criminal Code
A circumstance that may increase punishment under the statutory rules. It must be proved and cannot be counted again where it already forms a specific element or aggravation of the offence.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Procedural acceptance of the prosecution case under statutory conditions and judicial supervision. It may allow a prescribed reduction in certain fast-track proceedings but does not guarantee that reduction in every case.
Spanish Criminal Code
A relationship in which one offence is a necessary means of committing another under the Criminal Code. The connection must be assessed against the actual facts and circumstances.
2026 compensation update
Revision of the road-accident injury valuation amounts for the relevant year. The applicable date and rules must be checked before calculating compensation.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A challenge requesting review of a decision by the competent court. Availability, time limits and scope depend on the decision and the applicable procedure.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
An extraordinary appeal to the Supreme Court subject to statutory grounds and requirements. It is not a complete retrial or an unrestricted review of every issue.
Judiciary Act
An application to remove a judge on a statutory ground concerning impartiality. Standing, grounds and procedure are required; disagreement with a ruling is insufficient.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Deprivation of liberty subject to statutory grounds and safeguards. It must last no longer than necessary for appropriate inquiries and respect legal limits and supervision. It differs from pre-trial detention and conviction.
Spanish Criminal Code
Starting to carry out an offence through external acts, without completing it for reasons outside the person’s control. The penalty depends on the circumstances and stage reached.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
A component of the statutory personal injury valuation system for road accidents. Its scope and amount depend on the injury and the applicable tables.
Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Act
A guiding consideration in juvenile criminal intervention and measures, alongside statutory safeguards and aims. It does not remove the need for reasoned decisions and judicial supervision.
Spanish Criminal Code
Alcohol concentration measured by a test. Criminal relevance may depend on impaired driving or exceeding the express statutory threshold, subject to assessment of the testing evidence.
Spanish Criminal Code
Harm to bodily integrity or physical or mental health. Classification depends on matters including treatment required, the outcome, the means used and the context.
Spanish Criminal Code
A criminally relevant failure to comply with a sentence, security measure or interim measure. For restrictions on approach or communication, the precise order, its validity and the alleged conduct must be checked.
Civil Procedure Act
Rules allocating the consequences when a relevant fact is not proved. In criminal cases they must be read with the presumption of innocence; civil rules cannot simply be transferred.
Spanish Criminal Code
Cancellation of conviction entries when the Criminal Code’s requirements are met, including the relevant period without further offending. Calculation requires checking the penalty and when it was extinguished.
Criminal Procedure Act
Traceability of collection, storage and transfer of exhibits or samples to assess identity and integrity. An irregularity must be assessed in context and does not automatically invalidate all evidence.
Criminal Code
Removal or retention of a child by a parent in the circumstances specified by the Criminal Code. Court orders, family arrangements and the facts of removal or retention must be examined.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A claim for restitution, reparation or compensation arising from a criminal act. It may be pursued within criminal proceedings under their rules or reserved for civil proceedings where appropriate. Waiver and its effects require explicit consideration.
Spanish Criminal Code
The obligation to restore property, repair damage and compensate for harm caused by an offence. It is distinct from punishment, although both matters may be determined in criminal proceedings.
Criminal Procedure Act
Decisions concerning family arrangements or protection that may accompany criminal measures in statutory cases. Their scope, duration and procedural requirements are specific.
Spanish Criminal Code
Conduct unlawfully preventing someone from doing what the law permits, or compelling them to do something they do not want to do, under the statutory definition. Specific forms and contexts are regulated separately.
Spanish Criminal Code
Unpaid work serving a public purpose, subject to supervision and the person’s consent. It cannot undermine dignity or be replaced at will by a privately chosen activity.
Spanish Criminal Code
Full satisfaction of the elements required for an offence. Identifying when an offence was completed can affect its classification, limitation period and distinction from an attempt.
Spanish Criminal Code
Helping to commit an offence through earlier or simultaneous acts that do not amount to principal liability. The contribution and the participant’s knowledge must be examined.
Gender-based Violence Protection Act
Access to care, support and recovery services under Spain’s gender-based violence legislation. It differs from legal advice and representation.
Criminal Code
Suspension of the remaining prison sentence when statutory requirements are met. It is subject to conditions and may be revoked in specified circumstances.
Spanish Criminal Code
Acknowledging the offence before the authorities may mitigate the penalty when the statutory conditions are met. A confession does not by itself amount to a procedural agreement to the prosecution case.
Criminal Code
Deprivation of assets, instruments or proceeds connected with an offence under statutory rules. It differs from provisional seizure and compensation.
Criminal Procedure Act
A procedure to clarify relevant contradictions by confronting the people who gave conflicting statements. It is subject to statutory conditions and limits.
Personal Data Protection Act
An expression of agreement that must meet data-protection requirements to be a valid basis for processing. Consent is not the only possible legal basis.
Criminal Code
An agreement by two or more people to commit an offence and a decision to carry it out. It is punishable only where legislation expressly provides for it.
Spanish Criminal Code
Several acts or omissions that may receive unified treatment when statutory requirements are met. The rule does not apply to every offence or every repetition of conduct.
Information Society Services Act
Mechanisms for storing or retrieving information on a person’s device. Their use must comply with information and consent requirements and statutory exceptions.
Criminal Code
Liability that may be imposed on an organisation for specified offences under particular conditions. It does not arise automatically from every offence committed by an employee.
Criminal Procedure Act
Procedural expenses that may be allocated by the court under statutory rules. An order for costs differs from the fee arrangement between a client and their professional adviser.
Legal Aid Act
A professional appointment system organised by bar associations to ensure assistance and defence in statutory cases. It differs from a decision granting legal aid.
Criminal Code
A security measure involving obligations or restrictions under judicial supervision. Its conditions and duration depend on the applicable law and court order.
Criminal Procedure Act
A notice requiring attendance at a specified place and time in a particular procedural capacity. Check who issued it, why attendance is required and any warnings; it does not itself mean there is an accusation.
Criminal Procedure Act
Review of a decision by a higher court through the applicable appeal. The scope of review, particularly of oral evidence, is subject to legal limits.
Criminal Code
Damage to another person’s property that may constitute an offence depending on its elements, value and circumstances. It differs from a civil claim for compensation.
Spanish Criminal Code
A financial penalty fixed as day-fines or, where provided by law, proportionately. Its duration and daily amount are separate issues. Non-payment may have criminal consequences.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The judicial investigation stage for clarifying potentially criminal events and deciding whether proceedings should continue. Investigative steps must respect rights and do not automatically replace evidence at trial.
Judiciary Act
The sphere in which courts exercise criminal judicial powers. Authority over a particular case depends on statutory jurisdiction and allocation rules.
Spanish Criminal Code
Conduct defined and punishable under criminal law. Establishing liability requires examination of the elements of the offence, the evidence, the circumstances and the person’s involvement.
Spanish Criminal Code
The legal consequence of conviction for an offence. The type, length and method of serving the penalty depend on the offence, circumstances and statutory sentencing rules.
Spanish Criminal Code
Entries relating to final criminal convictions. They may be relevant in different contexts and can be cancelled when statutory conditions are met. They are distinct from police records.
Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Act
A measure under the juvenile responsibility system carried out under different regimes. Imposition, duration and review follow specific juvenile-justice rules.
Spanish Criminal Code
The daily financial amount used to calculate a day-fine. It is assessed with reference to the convicted person’s financial circumstances under the Criminal Code.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A dismissal based on statutory grounds distinct from provisional dismissal. Its effects and possibilities of challenge depend on the precise basis and whether the decision is final.
Spanish Criminal Code
Deliberately and inhumanely increasing the victim’s suffering through harm unnecessary to carry out the offence. This requires specific findings beyond the seriousness of the outcome alone.
Criminal Code
Financial harm caused by a person who exceeds the powers entrusted to them to manage another person’s assets. A poor business decision is not automatically criminal.
Criminal Code
A penalty removing eligibility for specified offices, occupations or rights, depending on its form and scope. The precise judgment must be checked.
Spanish Criminal Code
A penalty preventing the person from driving motor vehicles and mopeds during a specified period. In statutory cases it may also affect the validity of the driving licence.
Criminal Code
Falsifying or creating documents in ways specified by criminal law. The applicable offence depends on the document, the conduct and the role of the person involved.
Criminal Code
Violence within family or household relationships covered by legislation. It must be distinguished from the specific Spanish category of gender-based violence and from individual offences.
Spanish Criminal Code
An expression covering different situations: loss of licence validity through points, judicial disqualification and never having obtained a licence. The particular statutory situation must be identified.
Spanish Criminal Code
Offences protecting public health. In drug cases the conduct, substance, intended purpose and circumstances specified in the relevant provisions must be examined.
Personal Data Protection Act
The obligation of those involved in processing personal data to maintain confidentiality. It applies alongside other relevant secrecy duties.
Spanish Constitution
The right to protection by courts when exercising legitimate rights and interests, without denial of a proper defence. It does not guarantee a favourable decision.
Information Society Services Act
Promotional messages sent electronically, subject to rules on identification, permission and opting out as applicable. Not every email is a marketing communication.
General Statute of the Spanish Legal Profession
A document recording the scope and terms of professional services, including fees. It should make clear which work is included and how costs are calculated.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
An investigative act allowing entry into and examination of a place under statutory conditions and safeguards. For a protected home, the legal authority, scope and conditions of the search must be checked.
Criminal Code
A contribution through an act without which the offence would not have been committed, as defined by the Criminal Code. It differs from non-essential assistance.
Judiciary Act
Evidence obtained in violation of fundamental rights, whose admissibility and effect must be assessed under the law. Not every formal irregularity falls into this category.
Gender-based Violence Protection Act
Statutory ways to establish a situation of gender-based violence for specified rights and support. A criminal conviction is not the only possible basis in every context.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Evidence taken during the investigation in statutory cases with defence and adversarial safeguards and audiovisual recording. Its admission at trial is regulated. It preserves evidence and can avoid repeated testimony by specially protected persons.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Exemption from giving evidence in specified relationships and situations. Statutory exceptions concern matters including victim protection and the witness’s earlier procedural actions. Family relationship alone does not establish an exemption.
Criminal Procedure Act
Specialist knowledge used to assess facts relevant to proceedings. An expert report can be challenged and does not automatically bind the court.
Spanish Criminal Code
The ending of criminal liability on a statutory ground, such as completion of the penalty. This is different from cancellation of a criminal record or a finding of innocence.
Criminal Code
Compelling an act or omission through violence or intimidation, for financial gain and to the detriment of property interests, as defined by the offence.
Criminal Procedure Act
An exceptional procedure for reviewing final convictions on specified statutory grounds. It differs from an appeal and does not reopen every disagreement with a judgment.
Criminal Code
Falsely claiming to the authorities to be responsible for or the victim of an offence, or reporting a non-existent offence, thereby causing procedural action under the Criminal Code.
Criminal Procedure Act
A procedural status declared when statutory conditions concerning non-appearance or inability to locate a person are met. It is not a finding of guilt.
Criminal Code
Failure to assist or seek help for a helpless person in manifest and serious danger, subject to statutory conditions. Risk to the rescuer and others is also relevant.
Criminal Code
Alleging criminal conduct to the authorities knowing it is false or with reckless disregard for the truth, subject to further statutory conditions. Dismissal or acquittal alone does not establish this offence.
Criminal Code
A witness giving false evidence in judicial proceedings under the statutory conditions. This differs from the rights of a person under investigation.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A special criminal procedure for cases meeting statutory requirements. Its concentrated timeframes make early review of documents and defence options particularly important.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A judgment no longer open to ordinary or extraordinary appeals, subject to the statutory exceptions for review and constitutional protection. Finality affects enforcement and must be checked against the relevant decision.
Criminal Procedure Act
A judicial order in ordinary criminal investigations where there are rational indications of criminal involvement against a person. It is not a conviction.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A formal procedural complaint reporting alleged criminal acts and requesting participation as a prosecuting party. It is subject to requirements of form, representation and content; the court determines admissibility.
Spanish Criminal Code
Fraud requires the elements of the applicable offence, including deception, error, a disposition of assets and loss in its basic form. Separate categories address computers and payment instruments.
Gender-based violence
Violence against a woman by a current or former spouse or person in an analogous intimate relationship, within the statutory definition. It is not synonymous with all family violence.
Spanish Criminal Code
A statutory circumstance capable of excluding criminal liability when all its requirements are met. An allegation of illness, fear or conflict does not automatically establish the defence.
Spanish Constitution
A procedure for immediate judicial review of allegedly unlawful deprivation of liberty. The Constitution guarantees it and a specific organic law governs the procedure.
Spanish Criminal Code
Habitual physical or psychological violence against persons within the relationships covered by the Criminal Code. Habitual conduct and its context must be proved; individual acts may constitute additional offences.
Criminal Code
Profiting from, or helping another profit from, the proceeds of specified property offences while knowing their origin and not having participated in the original offence, subject to statutory conditions.
Spanish Criminal Code
Persistent and repeated conduct that disrupts the normal course of everyday life when statutory requirements are met. Not every unwanted communication or conflict automatically constitutes harassment.
Criminal Code
Causing another person’s death. Intent, negligence and statutory circumstances determine the applicable offence and must be proved.
Criminal Procedure Act
An identification procedure involving a line-up of people under statutory safeguards. Its conduct and evidential value must be assessed alongside the other evidence.
Crime Victims Act
Assessment of personal circumstances and the offence to identify particular protection needs. Measures must be tailored to the situation and reviewed where appropriate.
Criminal Code
Participation by directly inducing another person to commit an offence. The specific contribution and its influence must be proved.
Spanish Criminal Code
Acting with knowledge and intention concerning the elements of an offence. It must be proved from the circumstances and cannot be presumed merely because harm occurred.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
An investigative measure affecting communications, subject to statutory requirements, judicial authorisation and specific supervision. Necessity, proportionality, purpose and scope must be examined; it is not an unrestricted power to access private communications.
Criminal Procedure Act
An investigative measure involving telephone communications under judicial authorisation and supervision in statutory cases. It differs from accessing data already stored on a device.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Interim decisions intended to protect the purposes of proceedings or the persons affected. They require a legal basis, justification and proportionality and do not automatically determine the trial’s outcome.
Spanish Constitution
A constitutional safeguard restricting entry and searches of the home. Generally, consent or a judicial decision is required, subject to the constitutional exception for an offence caught in the act.
Criminal Procedure Act
A judicial notice seeking to locate a person and bring them before a court in specified circumstances. Its effects depend on the proceedings and the terms of the order.
Judiciary Act
A judge withdrawing where a statutory ground affects their participation. It safeguards impartiality and must follow the prescribed procedure.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
Lasting physical, intellectual, organic, sensory or aesthetic impairments remaining after healing, under the statutory valuation rules. Medical and legal assessment is required.
Criminal Code
A specific offence involving voluntarily leaving the scene of certain accidents caused while driving, outside the failure-to-assist provisions and subject to statutory conditions.
Legal Aid Act
A system of assistance for people meeting financial or specific statutory eligibility conditions. Appointment of a duty lawyer does not always mean the service is free.
Legal Aid Act
A reasoned assessment that a claim lacks a legally sustainable basis within the legal-aid procedure. Specific steps and safeguards apply; it is not simply a refusal of assistance.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The right to legal assistance in the proceedings and situations provided by law. Detention carries specific safeguards concerning information, communication and the lawyer’s involvement.
General Statute of the Spanish Legal Profession
The duty to keep facts, communications and documents learned through legal practice confidential, within the applicable legal scope. It differs from an ordinary private confidentiality agreement.
Criminal Code
Responsibility for a result caused by failing to act where a special legal duty to prevent it exists and statutory conditions are met. Mere inaction is not always criminal.
Spanish Criminal Code
Extinction of liability after the statutory period passes without a relevant interruption by proceedings. The periods and rules vary with the offence and circumstances.
Criminal Code
The effect of expiry of a statutory period on enforcement of a sentence. Its starting point, suspension and duration differ from limitation periods for prosecuting offences.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
Loss of income or profit assessed under the applicable damage rules. It must be established and distinguished from expenses actually incurred.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
The point at which healing stabilises and lasting impairments can be identified under the valuation system. It does not always coincide with return to work.
Spanish Criminal Code
Appropriating or diverting property received under a statutory obligation to deliver or return it. This must be distinguished from fraud and a purely contractual failure.
Criminal Code
A mistake about an element of an offence. Its effect depends on whether it was avoidable and whether negligent commission is punishable.
Criminal Code
A mistake about whether conduct is unlawful. The Criminal Code distinguishes its consequences according to whether the mistake could have been avoided.
Spanish Criminal Code
A statutory circumstance that may reduce a penalty. Its effect depends on its degree, its interaction with other circumstances and the applicable sentencing rules.
Criminal Code
Conduct involving criminal proceeds, such as acquiring, converting or concealing their origin, where the offence’s elements are met. Knowledge and the applicable form must be examined.
Spanish Criminal Code
A criminal-law reform may apply to earlier events if it benefits the person concerned, including in certain cases after a final judgment. The applicable legal regimes must be compared as a whole.
Spanish Criminal Code
The relationship between several offences attributable to an act or the same person. Distinguishing separate acts, one act constituting several offences and offences linked as means and end affects sentencing.
Criminal Code
Killing another person with a circumstance specified in Article 139, such as treachery or deliberate cruelty. Not every intentional killing falls within this category.
Spanish Criminal Code
A situation in which a protected interest is harmed or a duty breached to avoid harm to oneself or another person, subject to the Criminal Code’s requirements and limits.
Spanish Criminal Code
A breach of the duty of care that can create criminal liability where the law expressly punishes negligent conduct. Not every mistake, accident or instance of carelessness is a criminal offence.
Spanish Criminal Code
Criminally relevant non-payment of financial obligations towards a spouse or children within the statutory cases. Specific elements must be proved; inability to pay cannot automatically be equated with criminal non-payment.
Judiciary Act
Invalidation of procedural acts on statutory grounds. Its requirements and procedural routes are specific; not every irregularity nullifies proceedings.
Criminal Code
Statutory offences that obstruct court proceedings, including certain failures to attend and acts of intimidation. The specific conduct determines the elements to be proved.
Criminal Procedure Act
A situation involving immediacy between the offence, its detection and intervention, defined by law for particular actions. Mere suspicion or a general claim of urgency is insufficient.
Spanish Criminal Code
A situation in which a single act constitutes two or more offences. Specific sentencing rules apply instead of automatically adding every possible penalty together.
Criminal Procedure Act
A decision allowing proceedings to move to trial after the required steps. It does not establish that allegations are proved or that a conviction will follow.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
Actual expenses and financial losses linked to the harm under the applicable rules. It differs from income or profit that was not earned.
Spanish Criminal Code
A circumstance capable of excluding liability when fear reaches the intensity and other conditions required by law. Pressure or apprehension alone does not establish it.
Criminal Code
An act of clemency that may extinguish all or part of a penalty under the applicable rules. It is not an acquittal and does not itself erase every consequence of conviction.
Spanish Criminal Code
Payment of a fine in instalments where authorised under the statutory conditions. The schedule and conditions set by the court must be respected.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A person alleged to have participated in events under criminal investigation. That status activates defence rights and is not a finding of guilt.
Personal Data Protection Act
Safeguards governing processing of information about identified or identifiable individuals. The applicable rules depend on the purpose and context of processing.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A document recording police inquiries, information and investigative acts. It must be distinguished from evidence tested with trial safeguards: material does not become proved merely by being included in the police report.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Bringing a criminal prosecution by a person meeting statutory requirements without necessarily being the direct victim. Admissibility, limitations by offence or procedure and any security requirement must be checked.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Judicially ordered provisional deprivation of liberty subject to specific requirements, purposes and limits. It is exceptional and is not a penalty imposed after conviction.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A hearing before the trial court in the abbreviated procedure dealing with matters such as agreement to the prosecution case, jurisdiction, fundamental rights and proposed evidence. The applicable wording and transitional rules must be checked.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Investigative steps in the abbreviated procedure to establish the facts, circumstances and possible participants. They can end in various decisions, including dismissal. Opening them is not a conviction.
Spanish Constitution
The right not to be convicted without lawful and sufficient prosecution evidence obtained and assessed with safeguards. The prosecution must prove the facts and the participation alleged.
Spanish Criminal Code
The involvement of someone who carries out the act alone, jointly or through another person. The Criminal Code also treats instigation and necessary assistance as forms of principal liability.
Spanish Criminal Code
A person may be punished only for conduct already defined as an offence and by a penalty established by law. Criminal interpretation has limits and cannot extend the law by analogy to the defendant’s detriment.
Prison Regulations
An individual decision on treatment classification and prison regime, subject to review and oversight. It differs from calculating sentence length.
General Prison Act
Authorised temporary leave subject to statutory conditions and individual assessment. Serving a minimum period does not itself create an automatic entitlement.
General Prison Act
Activities aimed at rehabilitation and social reintegration under prison legislation. Programmes are tailored to the prisoner’s circumstances and progress.
General Prison Act
A judge overseeing prison enforcement and safeguarding prisoners’ rights within the court’s powers. This does not replace every function of the sentencing court.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Participation as a prosecuting party by a person legally entitled to bring the criminal action. Powers, requirements and the relationship with a civil claim depend on the procedure and the person’s position.
Spanish Constitution
The right not to testify against oneself or confess guilt. Exercising it is a defence safeguard and does not amount to admitting the allegations.
Criminal Code
A court-imposed restriction on approaching a person or specified places. It may be a sentence or an interim protective measure, with different legal rules.
Criminal Code
A restriction on contacting a protected person through the means covered by the court order. Its terms remain binding even if the other person requests contact.
Criminal Code
An invitation to participate in an offence that the person making the invitation has decided to commit. It is punishable only in expressly specified cases.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A decision capable of imposing criminal and civil protective measures in statutory cases. It requires indications of an offence and an objective risk assessment; it is not itself a conviction.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A decision provisionally closing a case, for example because there is insufficient evidence of the event or a person’s involvement. It is not an acquittal and does not necessarily mean permanent closure.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
An interim situation in which a person under investigation remains at liberty subject to imposed obligations. Release may be with or without security and accompanied by reporting duties or other measures. It is not dismissal or acquittal.
Criminal Procedure Act
Provisional restriction of assets to secure potential financial liabilities in criminal proceedings. It does not finally transfer ownership or establish guilt.
Criminal Code
Direct incitement to commit an offence through public communication or before a gathering of people. Punishment requires an express statutory provision.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
A compensation proposal that an insurer must issue in statutory road-accident cases, subject to legal content and timing requirements. Supporting documents, heads of loss and scope must be checked.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
A reasoned response where a compensation offer cannot be made for statutory reasons. It does not necessarily finally admit or exclude all liability.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A reasoned judicial order determining relevant procedural matters such as interim measures, jurisdiction or admission of evidence. It contains background, reasoning and an operative decision. Its label alone does not establish finality or closure.
Spanish Criminal Code
Driving with manifest recklessness and a specific danger to another person’s life or physical integrity under the applicable offence. Not every traffic violation meets these requirements.
Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Act
Mechanisms that may support specified decisions to discontinue juvenile proceedings when statutory conditions are met. An apology or payment does not automatically end a case.
Spanish Criminal Code
Refusing legally prescribed alcohol or drug tests after an officer’s request. This is distinct from driving under the influence and requires examination of the request and the other statutory elements.
Spanish Criminal Code
An act intended to repair harm or reduce its consequences, potentially relevant as a mitigating circumstance. Its timing, extent and connection with the damage must be assessed.
Spanish Criminal Code
An aggravating circumstance based on earlier convictions meeting the Criminal Code’s requirements. Not every previous record counts: the nature of the offences, cancellation and other statutory limits matter.
2026 repeated-offending reform
A term used for reforms assigning particular consequences to repeated convictions or offending for specified offences. It does not create one rule for every criminal record or offence.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Reporting to an authority facts that may constitute an offence. It can lead to investigative steps but does not prove the allegations or automatically make the reporter a prosecuting party.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A request to reconsider certain decisions of the court’s judicial officer, the Letrado de la Administración de Justicia, in statutory cases. It differs from challenges to judges’ decisions and judicial review; it is not available against every decision.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A request asking the judge who issued a decision to reconsider it where permitted by law. Availability and its relationship with an appeal depend on the procedure; notification, time limits and requirements must be checked.
Civil Procedure Act
The effect of certain final decisions preventing matters already decided from being reopened under statutory rules. Its limits and criminal application differ from the civil regime.
Crime Victims Act
Services aimed at repairing harm through voluntary, informed participation by victim and offender under statutory conditions. They are not available for every offence and do not automatically replace criminal proceedings.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Defence powers include knowing the allegations, obtaining legal assistance, accessing proceedings under the statutory rules and participating in the case. They also include silence and freedom from self-incrimination.
Personal Data Protection Act
The right, under statutory conditions, to request removal of search-result links associated with a person’s name. It does not necessarily delete the source content.
Personal Data Protection Act
The right to request deletion of personal data in statutory circumstances. It is not absolute and does not require removal of every item of information or case file.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Safeguards including understandable information about detention and allegations, legal assistance, silence, communication, interpretation and other statutory assistance. Their exercise must reflect the circumstances and be properly recorded.
Spanish Criminal Code
Taking another person’s movable property for gain using the forms of force, violence or intimidation specified by law. It must be distinguished from theft and the method of execution identified.
Criminal Procedure Act
Investigative access to data stored on computers, phones or other devices under statutory safeguards. Seizure of a device does not by itself authorise unrestricted access to its data.
Crime Victims Act
Additional harm experienced through treatment or procedures after an offence. Protective measures seek to reduce it while respecting procedural safeguards.
Criminal Procedure Act
A temporary court-ordered restriction on parties’ access to specified investigative material. It does not remove all defence safeguards and differs from general confidentiality towards the public.
Criminal Code
A criminal-law measure based on statutory conditions concerning dangerousness and other requirements. It differs from punishment and may or may not involve deprivation of liberty.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
Security required for purposes such as securing financial liabilities or making provisional release conditional. Its purpose and supporting order must be identified; providing it is not itself an admission of guilt.
Spanish Criminal Code
Self-defence requires an unlawful attack, a rational need for the means used and an absence of sufficient provocation by the person defending themselves. The particular circumstances of the response must be assessed.
Spanish Criminal Code
An act against another person’s sexual freedom without consent under the Criminal Code. The particular conduct and personal and factual circumstances determine the applicable category.
Spanish Criminal Code
A free expression through acts that clearly convey the person’s willingness in the circumstances. Assessment must follow the statutory definition and the factual context.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The statute governing criminal investigation, parties’ rights, interim measures, trial, appeals and enforcement. It explains how cases proceed and must be read with the Criminal Code and other applicable legislation.
Road Accident Liability and Insurance Act
A component assessing personal circumstances or the severity of limitations under the statutory system. Classification requires justification and is not determined solely by sick leave.
Spanish Criminal Code
Liability that may follow non-payment of a criminal fine in the cases and within the limits established by law. It does not mean that any civil debt can be converted into imprisonment.
Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Act
An educational measure involving monitoring, support and conduct requirements in juvenile justice. It differs from the adult Criminal Code security measure.
Spanish Criminal Code
A judicial decision suspending enforcement of certain custodial sentences subject to statutory requirements and conditions. It is not automatic and does not amount to an acquittal.
Spanish Criminal Code
Taking another person’s movable property without consent and for gain, without the forms of force, violence or intimidation characteristic of robbery or burglary. Value and other circumstances affect classification.
General Prison Act
A prison classification associated with an open regime, determined under statutory criteria and procedures. It does not extinguish the sentence or grant unconditional release.
Spanish Criminal Code
Communicating a threat of harm to a person, with criminal relevance depending on its content, circumstances and statutory category. The full context of communications must be preserved.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The statutory period for the judicial investigation, with reasoned extensions where permitted. The opening date and timing of each investigative order matter; expiry does not automatically require acquittal.
Spanish Criminal Code
A method of committing an offence against a person that is intended to ensure its execution while avoiding a risk arising from the victim’s defence. It requires a specific assessment of the facts.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The procedure for minor offences, with specific rules on summonses, assistance, hearings and appeals. Requirements for a lawyer and procedural representative depend on the case; a minor offence can still have criminal consequences.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
The trial stage at which admitted evidence is heard and the parties present their conclusions with statutory safeguards. Assessment of evidence and the decision appear in the judgment. Opening a trial is not a finding of guilt.
Spanish Criminal Code
Offences protecting privacy against specified forms of access, taking, use or disclosure of information. Absence of consent alone does not establish every element of an offence.
Criminal Code
Entering or remaining in another person’s dwelling against the resident’s will under the statutory conditions. Protection of the home differs from ownership of the property.
Spanish Criminal Code
An offence covering certain occupations or interference with possession of another person’s immovable property under the statutory conditions. It must be distinguished from unlawful entry into a home and civil possession disputes.
Criminal Procedure Act
Concentrated investigative steps before the duty court in fast-track criminal proceedings. The statutory requirements for that procedure must be met.
Crime Victims Act
A service providing victims with information and support concerning rights and available resources. Its assistance is not itself legal representation in proceedings.
Crime Victims Act
An individual directly harmed by an offence, together with indirect victims in specified cases. Victim status carries rights but is not identical to formally joining proceedings as a party.
Spanish Criminal Code
Voluntarily abandoning the attempt or preventing completion under the statutory conditions. This may exclude liability for the attempted offence without removing liability for other offences already committed.
Criminal Procedure Act
A person’s evidence about facts known to them. Admission, examination and assessment are subject to procedural rules and safeguards for the parties.
Spanish Criminal Procedure Act
A witness recounting facts learned from another person rather than directly perceived. The source must be identified. Evidential weight requires individual assessment and is not automatically equivalent to eyewitness evidence.
Criminal Procedure Act
A response to the prosecution setting out the defence position and proposed evidence under the applicable procedure. The specific notice and deadline must be checked.
Criminal Procedure Act
A document setting out the prosecution’s alleged facts, legal classification, participation, requested penalties and other claims at the relevant stage. It is not a judicial finding of fact.
Time to listen
Consult with María Morales Elbaz, lawyer in Madrid.