Criminal responsibility of minors

Please note that the references made in this Act to the courts of first instance and investigation, of first instance, of the commercial, of investigation, of violence against women, of the criminal, of minors, of prison supervision, of the administrative, of the social, shall be understood to refer to the sections of the corresponding judicial order of the courts of instance; and the same consideration shall be given to the central courts with regard to the corresponding sections of the Central Court of Instance, as provided for in the first additional provision of Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January. Ref. BOE-A-2025-76

JUAN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who see and understand the present.

Know: That the General Courts have passed and I come to sanction the following Organic Law.

EXPOSURE OF GROUNDS

I

1. The promulgation of this Organic Law regulating the criminal liability of minors was a necessity imposed by the provisions of the Organic Law 4/1992 of 5 June 1992on the amendment of the Law on the Jurisdiction and Procedure of Juvenile Courts; in the motion adopted by the Congress of Deputies on 10 May 1994; and in article 19 of the current law Organic Law 10/1995 of 23 November 1995, of Spanish Criminal Code.

2. The Organic Law 4/1992promulgated as a consequence of the Judgment of the Constitutional Court 36/1991, 14 February 1991which declared unconstitutional article 15 of the Juvenile Courts Act, recast of 11 June 1948, provides a flexible framework for juvenile courts to determine the measures applicable to juveniles as criminal offenders, based on a special assessment of the interest of the minor, with a view to treating persons aged between 12 and 16 as minors. At the same time, it entrusts the prosecution with the procedural initiative and gives it broad powers to agree on the completion of the proceedings with the intention of avoiding, as far as possible, the distressing effects that the prosecution might produce. It also establishes the technical team as an essential instrument for achieving the objective pursued by the measures and concludes by establishing a procedure of a punitive-educational nature, to which it grants all the guarantees deriving from our constitutional system, in line with the aforementioned ruling of the Constitutional Court and the provisions of article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989.

Given that the Organic Law expressly recognized itself as "the nature of an urgent reform, which advances part of a renewed legislation on the reform of minors, which will be the subject of subsequent legislative measures", it is evident that this Organic Law constitutes this necessary legislative reform, based on the basic principles that have already guided the drafting of the law (especially the principle of the best interests of the child), the guarantees of our constitutional order, and the rules of international law, with particular attention to the aforementioned Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989, and hoping to respond in this way to the expectations created in Spanish society, for reasons in part conjunctural and in part permanent, on this specific topic.

3. The principles set out in the motion adopted unanimously by the Congress of Deputies on 10 May 1994 on measures to improve the existing legal framework for the protection of minors relate essentially to the establishment of a criminal majority at the age of eighteen and the enactment of “a criminal law for minors and juveniles that provides for the requirement of responsibility for young offenders who have not attained the age of criminal majority, based on principles oriented towards the re-education of juvenile offenders, based on personal, family and social circumstances, and which takes particular account of the powers of the Autonomous Communities in this matter ...”.

4. Article 19 of the Act Spanish Criminal Codeapproved by the Organic Law 10/1995 of 23 November 1995effectively sets the age of criminal responsibility at eighteen years and requires the explicit regulation of criminal responsibility of minors of that age in an independent law. In order to meet this requirement, the present Organic Law is approved, although the provisions of this point in the Spanish Criminal Code must be supplemented in a double sense. First, by firmly establishing the principle that criminal responsibility of minors vis-à-vis adults is a primary element of educational intervention that transcends all aspects of their legal regulation and that it identifies considerable differences between the meaning and procedure of sanctions in both sectors, without prejudice to guarantees common to all justiciable. Secondly, the age limit of 18 years set by the Spanish Criminal Code In order to deal with the criminal liability of minors, it specifies another minimum limit from which the possibility of demanding such responsibility begins and which has been established in fourteen years, on the basis of the conviction that the offences committed by children under this age are generally irrelevant and that, in the few cases in which they can cause social alarm, they are sufficient to give them an equally adequate response to the family and civil assistance areas, without the need for the intervention of the State's sanctioning judicial apparatus.

5. In addition, the criteria for the drafting of this Organic Law have been those contained in the doctrine of the Constitutional Court, particularly in the legal bases of the judgments. 36/1991, 14 February 1991, and 60/1995, 17 March 1995the guarantees and respect for the fundamental rights which must necessarily prevail in the proceedings before the juvenile courts, without prejudice to the modifications which, with regard to the ordinary procedure, allow us to take into account the nature and purpose of this type of process, aimed at adopting measures which, as already mentioned, cannot be repressive, but primarily preventive-special, aimed at the effective reintegration and the best interests of the child, valued by criteria which must be sought primarily in the field of non-legal sciences.

II

6. As a consequence of the principles, criteria and guidelines to which reference has just been made, it can be said that the wording of this Organic Law has been consciously guided by the following general principles: formally penal but materially punitive-educational nature of the procedure and measures applicable to juvenile offenders, express recognition of all guarantees deriving from respect for constitutional rights and the special requirements of the interest of the child, differentiation of various procedural and punitive stages in the category of juvenile offenders, flexibility in the adoption and implementation of measures recommended by the circumstances of the particular case, competence of the autonomous entities related to the reform and protection of minors for the execution of the measures imposed in the judgement and judicial control of this execution.

7. The present Organic Law is certainly a sanctioning provision, since it develops the requirement of genuine legal responsibility for juvenile offenders, although it refers specifically to the commission of acts characterized as offences or misdemeanours for Spanish Criminal Code and other special criminal laws. The aim of the legal reaction directed at the juvenile offender is an intervention of an educational nature, although of course of particular intensity, by expressly rejecting other essential purposes of adult criminal law, such as proportionality between the act and the punishment or intimidation of the recipients of the rule, is to prevent anything that could have a counterproductive effect on the minor, such as the exercise of the action by the victim or by other individuals.

In juvenile criminal law, the best interests of the child must be paramount as a determining element of the procedure and the measures taken. Interest to be assessed with technical and non-formalist criteria by teams of professionals specialized in the field of non-legal sciences, without prejudice of course to the application of the measures to general guarantee principles as indisputable as the accusatory principle, the principle of defence or the principle of presumption of innocence.

8. However, the Act cannot forget the injured party ' s own interests or the victim of the act committed by the minor, establishing a unique, prompt and unformalized procedure for compensation, if any, of damages, giving the juvenile judge extensive powers to incorporate relevant documents and testimonies in the main case. In this area of attention to the interests and needs of the victims, the Act introduces the principle in some revolutionary way of joint responsibility with the minor responsible for the acts of his parents, guardians, foster children or guardians, while allowing judicial restraint of the same and expressly recalling the applicability in his case of the Law 30/1992 of 26 November 1992of the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure and of the Act No. 35/1995 of 11 December 1995assistance and assistance to victims of violent crimes and against sexual freedom.

The Act also regulates, for proceedings for serious offences committed by persons over 16 years of age, a regime for the intervention of the injured party in order to safeguard the victim ' s interest in clarifying the facts and their prosecution by the competent court order, without polluting the procedure itself of education and punishing the minor.

This Act provides for a broad right of participation for victims by providing them with the opportunity to intervene in the proceedings by proposing and practicing evidence, making conclusions and making remedies. However, such participation is limited in that it is not possible to recognize the right of individuals to be a party to prosecution in the proper capacity with full rights and due process. There is neither the particular action of those injured by the criminal act nor the popular action of citizens here, because in these cases the priority interest for society and for the State coincides with the interest of the child.

9. In accordance with the guidelines stated by the Constitutional Court, previously referred to, a system of guarantees appropriate to the procedural claim is established, ensuring that the imposition of the sanction will be carried out after the presumption of innocence has been overcome, but without impeding the educational and assessment criteria of the interest of the minor presiding over this process, while making flexible use of the principle of minimum intervention, in order to give relevance to the possibilities of non-commencement or renunciation of the procedure, to the early recovery or conciliation between the offender and the victim, and to the cases of conditional suspension of the measure imposed or of substitution of the measure during its execution.

The competence of the ordinary judge is that of a judge who, with the rank of judge and preferably specialist, guarantees effective judicial protection of the rights in conflict. The position of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office is relevant, as an institution that constitutionally has the function of promoting justice action and the defence of legality, as well as the rights of minors, while ensuring their interest. The minor ' s counsel is involved in each and every stage of the proceedings, knowing at all times the contents of the case file, being able to propose evidence and intervening in all acts relating to the assessment of the minor ' s interest and the execution of the measure, of which he may request amendment.

The adoption of precautionary measures follows the model of a party ' s request, at a contradictory hearing, in which the best interests of the child must be assessed once again.

In defence of the doctrine unit, the system of ordinary appeals is entrusted to the Juvenile Chambers of the High Courts of Justice, which, with the inclusion of specialized judges, ensure and strengthen the effectiveness of judicial guardianship in relation to the purposes proposed by the Act. In the same vein, it should be pointed out that the appeal for the unification of doctrine, reserved for cases of greater gravity, in parallel with the adult criminal proceedings, has been instituted, strengthening the guarantee of unity of doctrine in the field of juvenile sanctioning law through the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court.

10. In accordance with the above principles, the 14-year-old age limit is unequivocally established to require this type of liability for minors of criminal age and, in the scope of application of the Act and the graduation of the consequences of the acts committed, two sections, from fourteen to sixteen and from seventeen to eighteen years, are differentiated by the fact that they present specific differences which require, from a scientific and legal point of view, differentiated treatment, constituting a specific aggravation in the section of persons over sixteen years of age, the commission of crimes characterized by violence, intimidation or danger to persons.

The application of this Act to persons over 18 years of age and under twenty-one, as provided for in Article 69 of the Criminal Code In force, it may be agreed by the judge in the light of the author's personal circumstances and maturity, and the nature and gravity of the facts. For the purposes of this Act, these persons are referred to as "young people".

The cases in which the minor presents symptoms of mental alienation or the occurrence of other circumstances modifying his or her responsibility are expressly regulated as situations requiring a specific response. The Public Prosecutor's Office should promote both the adoption of measures that are most appropriate to the interests of the minor in such situations and the establishment of the guardianship bodies provided for by law. It also provides that negligent actions or omissions cannot be punished by measures of closed detention.

11. In accordance with the guidelines set out above, the Act establishes a broad range of measures applicable, from the above-mentioned sanctioning-educational perspective, with the interest of the child being re-emphasized in the flexible judicial adoption of the most suitable measure, given the characteristics of the particular case and the personal evolution of the person punished during the execution of the measure. The specific purpose which the conduct sciences require to be pursued with each of the related measures is detailed as a guide in paragraph III of this explanatory statement.

12. The enforcement of the judicially imposed measures is the responsibility of the public bodies for the protection and reform of minors in the Autonomous Communities, under the inexcusable supervision of the Juvenile Justice.

The view remains that the interest of the child must be served by specialists in the areas of education and training, who belong to areas of greater immediacy than the State. The juvenile court judge, at the request of the parties and hearing the technical teams of the court itself and of the public body of the relevant Autonomous Community, has extensive powers to suspend or replace by other measures imposed, naturally without diminishing the procedural guarantees that constitute another of the primary objectives of the new regulation, or to allow the participation of the child ' s parents in the application and consequences of those measures.

13. Particular interest is attached in the context of the Act to the issues of reparation for the harm caused and conciliation between the offender and the victim as situations which, in the interest of the principle of minimum intervention, and with the assistance of the technical team, may lead to the non-initiation or dismissal of the case file, or to the termination of compliance with the measure imposed, in a clear predominance, once again, of the educational and resocializing criteria over those of a social defence essentially based on general prevention and which could prove counterproductive for the future.

Reparation for the harm caused and conciliation with the victim present the common denominator that the offender and the injured party reach an agreement, the performance of which by the minor ends with the legal conflict initiated by his cause. The purpose of the conciliation is to ensure that the victim receives psychological satisfaction from the juvenile offender, who must repent of the harm caused and be willing to apologize. The measure will be applied when the minor actually repents and apologizes, and the offended person accepts it and grants his/her forgiveness. In reparation, the agreement is not only reached through psychological satisfaction, but requires something more: the minor executes the commitment made to the victim or injured to repair the damage caused, either through work for the benefit of the community, or through actions, adapted to the needs of the subject, whose beneficiary is the victim or injured.

III

14. In the measure of admonition, the judge, in a single act taking place at the courthouse, expresses to the minor in a concrete and clear manner the reasons that make socially intolerable the acts committed, exposes him or her of the consequences that they have or could have had for him or her, and makes recommendations for the future.

15. The community benefit measure, which, in line with the Article 25.2 of our Constitutionmay not be imposed without the consent of the minor, it consists in carrying out an activity, during a number of sessions previously fixed, either for the benefit of the community as a whole, or of persons in a situation of precariousness for any reason. It will preferably be sought to relate the nature of the activity in which this measure consists to that of the legal assets affected by the acts committed by the minor.

The characteristic of this measure is that the minor must understand, during its realization, that the collective or certain persons have suffered unjustifiably negative consequences resulting from their conduct. It is intended that the subject understands that he acted improperly, that he deserves the formal reproach of society, and that the performance of the jobs required of him is an act of just reparation.

16. Detention measures are more dangerous, manifested in the peculiarly serious nature of the acts committed, characterized in the most prominent cases by violence, intimidation or danger to persons. The priority objective of the measure is to have an environment that provides the appropriate educational conditions so that the minor can redirect those provisions or deficiencies that have characterized his antisocial behaviour, when it is necessary, at least temporarily, to ensure the offender's stay in a regime that physically restricts his freedom. The greater or lesser intensity of such a restriction results in the various types of detention, to which reference will be made below. In any event, detention must provide a personal safety environment for all those involved, professionals and juvenile offenders, making it essential that the conditions of stay be the right conditions for the normal psychological development of minors.

Closed detention is intended to ensure that the minor acquires sufficient recourse to social competence to enable responsible behaviour in the community, through control management in a restrictive and progressively autonomous environment.

Semi-open placement implies the existence of an educational project in which from the beginning the substantial objectives are realized in contact with persons and institutions of the community, having the minor's residence in the centre, subject to the program and internal regime of the same.

Open placement implies that the child will carry out all the activities of the educational project in the standard services of the environment, residing in the centre as a regular domicile.

Therapeutic detention is provided for in cases where minors, either because of their addiction to alcohol or other drugs, or because of significant psychotic dysfunctions, need a structured context in which they can carry out therapeutic programming, not giving themselves, on the one hand, the appropriate conditions in the minor or his environment for outpatient treatment, or, on the other hand, the conditions of risk that would require the application of closed detention to the child.

17. In attending a day-care centre, the child is referred to a fully integrated community centre, where educational activities are carried out to support his/her social competence. This measure serves the purpose of providing a child with a structured environment for much of the day, in which socio-educational activities are carried out that can compensate for the shortcomings of the child's family environment. The characteristic of the day centre is that in this place it is where the essential part of the socio-educational project of the child takes shape, although he can also attend other places to make use of other leisure or cultural appeals. The person subject to this measure may therefore continue to reside in his home, or in his family, or in the foster establishment.

18. In the probation measure, the juvenile offender is subject, during the time prescribed in the sentence, to supervision and supervision by specialized personnel, in order to acquire the skills, abilities and attitudes necessary for proper personal and social development. For the duration of probation, the minor must also comply with the obligations and prohibitions which, under this Act, the judge may impose on him.

19. The social and educational tasks are to ensure that the child carries out specific educational activities to facilitate his or her social reintegration. It can be an autonomous measure or part of a more complex one. Employed in an autonomous manner, it aims to meet the specific needs of the child perceived as limiting their integral development. It may involve the child's assistance and participation in an already existing programme in the community, or one created "ad hoc" by the professionals responsible for implementing the measure. Examples of socio-educational tasks include: attending an occupational workshop, a compensatory education classroom or an employment preparation course; participating in structured activities of sociocultural animation; attending learning workshops for social competence, etc.

20. Outpatient treatment is a measure for minors who have the right conditions in their life to benefit from a therapeutic program that helps them overcome addictive processes or significant dysfunctions of their psyche. Planned for minors who have a dependence on alcohol or drugs, and who in their best interest can be treated from it in the community, in their realization different types of medical and psychological assistance can be combined. It is very appropriate for cases of psychological imbalance or psychotic disturbances that can be treated without the need for internment. The clearest difference with the socio-educational task is that it aims to achieve a training, an achievement of learning, using a methodology, not so much clinical, but of psycho-educational orientation. Out-patient treatment can also be understood as a very specific socio-educational task for a well-defined problem.

21. The weekend stay is the expression that defines the measure by which a minor is forced to stay at home from the evening or night of Friday until the night of Sunday, except for the time in which he performs the socio-educational tasks assigned by the judge. In practice, it combines elements of weekend arrest and the measure of socio-educational tasks or benefits for the benefit of the community. It is suitable for minors who commit acts of vandalism or minor assaults on weekends.

22. Coexistence with a person, family or educational group is a measure that seeks to provide the child with a positive socialization environment, through his/her cohabitation, for a period determined by the judge, with a person, with a family other than his/her own or with an educational group that offers to fulfil the role of the family in the development of socio-affective prosocial patterns in the child.

23. Deprivation of a driving licence for mopeds or motor vehicles, or the right to obtain it, or of administrative licences for hunting or for the use of any type of weapons, is an accessory measure which may be imposed in cases where the act committed relates to the activity of the minor and requires administrative authorization.

24. Finally, it should be pointed out that the scientific principles and educational criteria to which each measure, succinctly set out here, must be regulated more extensively in the Regulations which are eventually issued in the course of the implementation of this Organic Law.

PRELIMINARY TITLE

Article 1. General statement.

1. This Act shall be applied to hold persons over fourteen years of age and under eighteen years of age liable for the commission of acts defined as offences or misdemeanours in the Spanish Criminal Code or special penal laws.

2. The persons to whom this Law applies shall enjoy all the rights recognized in the Constitution and in the legal system, particularly in the Organic Law 1/1996 of 15 January 1996of the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989 and all the provisions on the protection of minors contained in the treaties validly concluded by Spain.

Paragraphs 2 and 4 are deleted and 3 and 2 are renumbered by the sole article 1 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE I

The scope of the Act

Article 2. Jurisdiction of juvenile judges.

1. Juvenile judges shall be competent to hear the acts committed by the persons referred to in article 1 of this Law and to enforce the sentences, without prejudice to the powers conferred by this Law on the Autonomous Communities with regard to the protection and reform of minors.

2. Juvenile judges shall also have jurisdiction to decide on civil liability arising from acts committed by persons to whom this Act applies.

3. The jurisdiction of the juvenile court of the place where the criminal act was committed, without prejudice to the provisions of article 20.3 of this Law.

4. The competence to deal with offences under Articles 571 to 580 of the Criminal Code The Central Juvenile Court of the National High Court shall have jurisdiction.

The Central Juvenile Court of the National High Court shall also be competent to hear offences committed by minors abroad when, in accordance with article 23 of Organic Law 6/1985 of 1 July 1985the judiciary and the international treaties correspond to their knowledge within the Spanish jurisdiction.

The reference in the last subparagraph of article 17 (4) and the number of others contained in this Act to the Juvenile Judge shall be deemed to be made to the Central Juvenile Judge in respect of minors charged with any of the offences referred to in the two preceding paragraphs.

Paragraph 4 is amended by additional provision 2 of Organic Law 8/2012 of 27 December. Ref. BOE-A-2012-15648.

Paragraph 1 is amended and Article 4 is added by Article 2 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 3. Regime for children under fourteen years of age.

Where the perpetrator of the acts referred to in the preceding articles is under fourteen years of age, he shall not be held liable under this Act, but shall be subject to the provisions of the rules on the protection of minors provided for in the Civil Code and other provisions in force. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall transmit to the public entity for the protection of minors the evidence of individuals it deems necessary for the minor in order to assess his or her situation, and that entity shall promote appropriate protective measures in accordance with the circumstances of the minor in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. Organic Law 1/1996 of 15 January 1996.

Article 4. Rights of victims and persons affected.

The Public Prosecutor ' s Office and the Juvenile Judge shall at all times ensure the protection of the rights of victims and persons injured by offences committed by minors.

They will immediately be instructed about the measures to assist victims provided for in the legislation in force, and the Office of the Counsel of the Administration of Justice must refer the victim of violence to the Office of Victim Support.

The victims and the injured persons shall have the right to appear and be a party to the file to be filed with them, for which purpose the Counsel of the Administration of Justice shall inform them in accordance with the provisions of the Articles 109 and 110 of the Criminal Procedure Actby instructing them of their right to appoint a legal directorate or to appoint them ex officio if they are entitled to free legal aid. It shall also inform them that, if they do not appear in the file and do not waive or reserve civil actions, they shall be brought by the Public Prosecutor's Office if appropriate.

In particular, it shall be ensured that statements or interrogations by the prosecution parties, witnesses or experts are carried out in a telematic manner in the following cases, unless the judge, court or prosecution office, by reasoned decision, in the light of the circumstances of the particular case, deems his physical presence necessary:

When they are victims of gender-based violence, sexual violence, trafficking in human beings or when they are victims of underage or disability. All of them may intervene from the places where they are officially receiving assistance, care, advice or protection, or from any other place, provided they have sufficient means to ensure their identity and the appropriate conditions of intervention.

It is amended, with effect from 3 April 2025, by art. 23.1 of Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January. Ref. BOE-A-2025-76

It is amended by final provision 11.1 of Organic Law 8/2021 of 4 June. Ref. BOE-A-2021-9347

It is amended by article 3 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

This article and its concordants are suspended until 1 January 2007 by the single transitional provision of Organic Law 9/2002 of 10 December. Ref. BOE-A-2002-24044.

This article and its concordants are suspended for 2 years by the single transitional provision of Organic Law 9/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23661.

Article 5. Basis of responsibility for minors.

1. Minors shall be liable under this Act when they have committed the acts referred to in article 1 and none of the grounds for exemption or termination of criminal liability under the present law are present. Spanish Criminal Code.

2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, minors in whom the circumstances provided for in article 20 (1), (2) and (3) of the present article are met Spanish Criminal Code the therapeutic measures referred to in Article 7.1(d) and (e) of this Law shall apply to them, where necessary.

3. The ages indicated in the articles of this Law must always be understood to refer to the time of the commission of the acts, without having exceeded them before the beginning of the procedure or during the procedure of the same one having any impact on the competence conferred by this same Law to the judges and prosecutors of minors.

Article 6. The intervention of the Public Prosecutor.

The Public Prosecutor ' s Office is responsible for defending the rights of minors recognized by law, monitoring the proceedings to be conducted in their interest and ensuring the guarantees of the procedure. For this purpose, it will personally direct the investigation of the facts and order that the judicial police carry out the necessary procedures for the verification of the facts and the participation of the minor in the proceedings, encouraging the proceedings.

TITLE II

Measures

Article 7. Definition of measures that may be imposed on minors and general rules for determining them.

1. The measures that juvenile judges may impose, ordered according to the restriction of rights they entail, are the following:

(a) Closed detention. The persons subject to this measure shall reside in the centre and carry out training, educational, work and leisure activities there.

(b) Semi-open detention. Persons subject to this measure shall reside in the centre, but may carry out any or all of the training, educational, work and leisure activities set out in the individualized programme of implementation of the measure outside the centre. The conduct of activities outside the centre shall be conditional on the individual ' s evolution and the fulfilment of the objectives set out therein, and may be suspended by the juvenile judge for a specified period of time, agreeing that all activities shall be carried out within the centre.

(c) Open detention. The persons subject to this measure shall carry out all the activities of the educational project in the standard services of the environment, residing in the centre as a habitual domicile, subject to the programme and internal regime of the institution.

(d) Therapeutic placement in closed, semi-open or open settings. Specialized educational care or specific treatment for persons suffering from mental abnormalities or alterations, a state of dependence on alcoholic beverages, toxic drugs or psychotropic substances, or alterations in perception that determine a serious alteration of the consciousness of reality shall be carried out in centres of this nature. This measure may be applied alone or in addition to another measure provided for in this Article Where the person concerned rejects a disqualification treatment, the judge shall apply another measure appropriate to his circumstances.

(e) Outpatient treatment. Persons subject to this measure are required to attend the designated centre at the intervals required by the doctors to attend to them and to follow the guidelines set for the proper treatment of the anomaly or mental disorder, addiction to the consumption of alcoholic beverages, toxic drugs or psychotropic substances, or alterations in their perception. This measure may be applied alone or in addition to another measure provided for in this Article Where the person concerned rejects a disqualification treatment, the judge shall apply another measure appropriate to his circumstances.

(f) Attendance at a day centre. The persons subject to this measure shall reside in their habitual home and shall attend a centre, fully integrated into the community, for support, educational, training, work or leisure activities.

(g) Weekend stay. Persons subject to this measure shall remain at home or in a centre for up to thirty-six hours between Friday afternoon or evening and Sunday night, except, where appropriate, for the time they must devote to the socio-educational tasks assigned by the judge to be carried out outside the place of stay.

(h) Probation. This measure should monitor the activity of the person subjected to it and his or her attendance at school, vocational training centre or workplace, as appropriate, by seeking to help him or her overcome the factors that determined the offence committed. This measure also requires, where appropriate, the social and educational guidelines to be followed by the public body or the professional responsible for monitoring it, in accordance with the intervention programme drawn up for that purpose and approved by the juvenile judge. The person subject to the measure is also obliged to maintain the interviews set out in the programme with that professional and, where appropriate, to comply with the rules of conduct imposed by the judge, which may be either or some of the following:

1.a Obligation to attend the relevant educational institution regularly, if the minor is of compulsory school age, and to prove to the judge such regular assistance or to justify absences, as often as required.

2.a Obligation to undergo training, cultural, educational, professional, labour, sex education, road education or similar programmes.

3.a Prohibition of going to certain places, establishments or shows.

4.a Prohibition of absent from the place of residence without prior judicial authorization.

5.a Obligation to reside in a particular place.

6.a Obligation to appear in person before the juvenile court or professional court designated, in order to inform and justify the activities carried out.

7. Any other obligations which the judge may deem appropriate, ex officio or at the request of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, for the social reintegration of the sentenced person, provided that they do not infringe on his dignity as a person. If any of these obligations implies the child's inability to continue living with his or her parents, guardians or guardians, the Public Prosecutor's Office shall transmit testimony from individuals to the public body for the protection of the child, and that entity shall promote appropriate protective measures in accordance with the circumstances of the child, as provided for in the Organic Law 1/1996.

(i) The prohibition of approaching or communicating with the victim or with those of his or her relatives or other persons determined by the judge. This measure will prevent the minor from approaching them, wherever they are, as well as their home, their educational establishment, their workplaces and any other places frequented by them. The prohibition of communicating with the victim, or with those of his relatives or other persons determined by the judge or court, shall prevent the minor from establishing with them, by any means of communication or computer or telematic means, written, verbal or visual contact. If this measure implies the child's inability to continue to live with his parents, guardians or guardians, the Public Prosecutor's Office shall transmit testimony from the individuals to the public child's protection agency, and that entity shall promote the protection measures appropriate to the circumstances of the child, as provided for in the provisions of the Convention. Organic Law 1/1996.

(j) Living with another person, family or educational group. The person subject to this measure must live together, during the period of time established by the judge, with another person, with a family other than his or her own or with an educational group, properly selected to guide the latter in the process of socialization.

(k) Community benefits. The person subject to this measure, who may not be imposed without his consent, must carry out the unpaid activities indicated to him, in the social interest or for the benefit of persons in a precarious situation.

(l) Social and educational tasks. The person subject to this measure must carry out, without detention or probation, specific educational activities aimed at facilitating the development of his/her social competence.

(m) Remand. This measure consists of the reprimand of the person carried out by the Juvenile Judge and aimed at making him understand the seriousness of the acts committed and the consequences that they have had or could have had, urging him not to commit such acts in the future.

(n) Deprivation of the driving licence for mopeds and motor vehicles, or the right to obtain it, or of administrative licences for hunting or for the use of any type of weapons. This measure may be imposed as an accessory if the offence or misdemeanour has been committed using a moped or motor vehicle, or a weapon, respectively.

(ñ) Absolute disqualification. The measure of absolute disqualification results in the permanent deprivation of all public honors, jobs and positions on which it falls, even if they are elected; as well as the inability to obtain the same or any other public honors, positions or jobs, and to be elected to public office, during the time of the measure.

2. The measures of detention shall consist of two periods: the first shall be carried out at the appropriate centre, in accordance with the description given in the preceding paragraph of this Article, the second shall be carried out on probation, in the manner chosen by the judge. The total duration shall not exceed the time specified in Articles 9 and 10. The technical team shall report on the content of both periods, and the judge shall state the duration of each period in the judgment.

3. The choice of the appropriate measure or measures must be flexible, not only in terms of the legal proof and assessment of the facts, but especially in terms of the age, family and social circumstances, personality and interest of the minor, as reflected in the reports of the technical teams and of the public bodies for the protection and reform of minors when they had been informed of the minor by virtue of their previous execution of a precautionary or definitive measure, in accordance with article 27 of this Law. The judge must state in the judgment the reasons for the application of a certain measure and the duration of the measure for the purpose of assessing the child's interest.

4. The judge may impose on the minor one or more measures as provided for in this Act irrespective of one or more facts, subject to the provisions of article 11 for the joint prosecution of several offences; but in no case shall a minor be imposed in a single decision more than one measure of the same kind, meaning each of those listed in paragraph 1 of this article.

5. Where the measure imposed is such for the commission of an offence as provided for in Chapters I and II of Part VIII of the Criminal CodeThe judge shall, in any event, impose an obligation to undergo training programmes for sex education and education on an equal footing.

Paragraph 5, with effect from 7 October 2022, is added by final provision 7.1 of Organic Law 10/2022 of 6 September. Ref. BOE-A-2022-14630

It is amended by article 4 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Point (n) is added to paragraph 1 by Article 2.1 of Organic Law 7/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23659.

Article 8. Accusatory principle.

The juvenile judge may not impose a measure which would entail a greater restriction of rights or for a longer period than the measure requested by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office or by the individual prosecutor.

The term of the custodial measures referred to in Article 7.1(a), (b), (c), (d) and (g) may not, in any case, exceed the length of the custodial sentence imposed on him by the same act, if the subject, if he has been of legal age, has been held liable, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(1)(a), (b), (c), (d) and (g), Spanish Criminal Code.

Paragraph 1 is amended by final provision 2.1 of Organic Law 15/2003 of 25 November. Ref. BOE-A-2003-21538.

Article 9. General regime for the implementation and duration of measures.

By way of derogation from Article 7(3) and (4), the application of the measures shall comply with the following rules:

1. Where the acts committed are classified as misdemeanour, the measures of probation may be imposed only up to a maximum of six months, reprimand, weekend stay up to a maximum of four weekends, community benefits up to fifty hours, deprivation of driving licences or other administrative licences up to one year, prohibition of approaching or communicating with the victim or with those of his relatives or other persons determined by the judge up to six months, and the performance of socio-educational tasks up to six months.

2. The measure of placement in closed detention may only apply if:

(a) The acts are defined as a serious offence by the Spanish Criminal Code or special penal laws.

(b) In the case of acts defined as a less serious offence, violence or intimidation has been used in the execution of such acts or serious risk to the life or physical integrity of such persons.

(c) The acts defined as offences are committed in a group or the minor is a member of or acts in the service of a band, organization or association, including a temporary one, engaged in such activities.

3. The duration of the measures may not exceed two years, for which purpose the period of time already served by the minor in a precautionary measure, as provided for in article 28.5 of this Law, may be calculated. The benefit measure for the benefit of the community shall not exceed 100 hours. The weekend stay measure may not exceed eight weekends.

4. Imprudent actions or omissions may not be punished by measures of confinement in closed detention.

5. Where some of the circumstances referred to in article 5.2 of this Act are appreciated in the application of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office or in the decision rendered in the proceedings, only the therapeutic measures described in article 7.1(d) and (e) of this Act may be applied.

It is amended by article 5 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

The first and third paragraphs of rule 5a are amended by article 5. 2.2 of Organic Law 7/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23659.

Article 10. Special rules for the application and duration of measures

1. In the case of the facts referred to in paragraph 2 of the preceding article, the Judge, having heard the Prosecutor, the parties in person and the technical team, shall act in accordance with the following rules:

(a) if at the time of the commission of the acts the minor is fourteen or fifteen years old, the measure may be of a duration of three years. In the case of community benefits, the maximum amount shall be 150 hours and 12 weekends if the measure imposed is that of weekend stay.

(b) If at the time of the commission of the acts the minor is sixteen or seventeen years old, the maximum duration of the measure shall be six years; or, in their respective cases, two hundred hours of benefits for the benefit of the community or for the duration of sixteen weekends. In this case, when the act is extremely serious, the judge must impose a measure of detention in closed detention for one to six years, supplemented successively by another measure of probation with educational assistance up to a maximum of five years. The provisions of articles 13 and 51.1 of this Organic Law may be used only after the first year of effective execution of the detention measure. For the purposes provided for in the preceding paragraph, cases of extreme gravity shall always be considered to be those in which recidivism is observed.

2. Where the act constitutes one of the offences provided for in Articles 138, 139, 178, paragraphs 2 and 3, 179, 180, 181, paragraphs 2, 4, 5 and 6, and 571 to 580 of the Spanish Criminal Codeor any other offence referred to in the said Code or in the special criminal laws, the judge shall impose the following measures:

(a) If, at the time of the commission of the acts, the minor was fourteen or fifteen years of age, a measure of detention in closed detention of one to five years of duration, supplemented, where appropriate, by another measure of probation of up to three years.

(b) If, at the time of the commission of the acts, the minor was sixteen or seventeen years of age, a measure of detention in closed detention for a period of one to eight years, supplemented, if necessary, by a measure of probation with educational assistance of up to five years. In this case, the powers of modification, suspension or replacement of the measure imposed under articles 13, 40 and 51.1 of this organic law may be used only after at least half of the duration of the detention measure has elapsed.

3. In the event that the offence committed is one of those covered by Articles 571 to 580 of the Criminal Codethe judge, without prejudice to any other appropriate measures under this law, shall also impose on the minor an absolute disqualification measure for a period of between four and fifteen years than the duration of the measure of detention in closed detention imposed, taking into account the gravity of the offence, the number of the acts committed and the circumstances prevailing in the minor.

4. The probation measures provided for in this article must be ratified by a reasoned order after hearing the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the juvenile ' s lawyer and the representative of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors at the end of the detention, and shall be carried out by the public institutions responsible for the enforcement of sentences.

Paragraph 2 is amended by final provision 2 of Organic Law 4/2023 of 27 April. Ref. BOE-A-2023-10213

Paragraph 2 is amended with effect from 7 October 2022, by final provision 7.2 of Organic Law 10/2022 of 6 September. Ref. BOE-A-2022-14630

It is amended by article 6 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 11. Plurality of infringements.

1. The ceilings laid down in Articles 9 and 10(1) shall apply, in accordance with the criteria laid down in Article 7(3) and (4), even if the minor is responsible for two or more offences, in the case of related offences or a continuing infringement, and where a single act constitutes two or more infringements. However, in such cases, the judge shall, in determining the measure or measures to be imposed and their duration, take into account, in addition to the interest of the minor, the nature and number of the infringements, taking as a reference the most serious of all of them. If, despite the provisions of article 20.1 of this Law, these offences have been the subject of different proceedings, the last sentencing judge shall indicate the measure or measures to be carried out by the minor for the whole of the facts, within the limits and in accordance with the criteria set out in the preceding paragraph.

2. Where any or all of the facts referred to in the preceding paragraph are of those referred to in article 10.2 of this Law, the measure of detention in closed detention may reach a maximum duration of 10 years for persons over 16 years of age and six years of age for minors of that age, without prejudice to the measure of probation which, in addition, it is appropriate to impose under that article.

3. Where the minor has committed two or more offences not covered by paragraph 1 of this Article, the provisions of Article 47 of this Law shall apply.

It is amended by article 7 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 12. Procedure for the application of measures in cases of plurality of offences.

1. For the purposes set out in the preceding article, as soon as the sentencing judge is aware of the existence of other firm measures in force, pending execution or conditionally suspended, imposed on the same minor by other juvenile judges in previous judgements, and once the measure or measures imposed by him are final, he shall order the judicial secretary to transmit the testimony of his sentence, by the earliest possible means, to the judge who issued the first final judgement, who shall be competent to execute them all, assuming the functions provided for in paragraph 2 of this article.

2. The judge responsible for execution shall recast and order the execution of all measures imposed in accordance with article 47 of this Act. From that moment on, it will become competent for all purposes excluding judicial bodies that have issued subsequent decisions.

It is amended by article 8 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 13. Amendment of the measure imposed.

1. The judge responsible for the execution, on his own initiative or at the request of the Public Prosecutor or the minor ' s counsel, after hearing the hearing of the case and the report of the technical team and, where appropriate, of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, may at any time terminate the measure imposed, reduce its duration or replace it with another measure, provided that the modification is in the child ' s interest and that the offence deserved for his conduct is sufficiently expressed to him. When the offence committed is defined in Chapters I and II of the Part VIII of the Criminal Codethe measure may be terminated only if it is established that the person subject to it has fulfilled the obligation provided for in Article 7 (5).

2. In previous cases, the judge shall rule by reasoned order against which the remedies provided for in this Act may be lodged.

Paragraph 1 is amended, with effect from 7 October 2022, by final provision 7.3 of Organic Law 10/2022 of 6 September. Ref. BOE-A-2022-14630

It is amended by article 9 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

His previous numbering was art. 14.

Article 14. Age of the convicted person.

1. If the child who has been subject to a measure of the age of majority provided for in this Act continues to comply with the measure until the objectives set out in the judgment in which it was imposed in accordance with the criteria set out in the preceding articles have been achieved.

2. In the case of the measure of detention in closed detention and the minor reaches the age of eighteen years without having completed its execution, the juvenile judge, after hearing the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the lawyer of the minor, the technical team and the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, may order in a reasoned order that its execution be carried out in a penitentiary institution in accordance with the general regime provided for in the General Prison Organization Act if the conduct of the interned person does not meet the objectives set out in the sentence.

3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the measures of detention in closed detention are imposed on a person who has reached the age of 21 years or, having been imposed previously, have not been completed upon reaching that age, the Juvenile Judge, heard by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the minor ' s counsel, the technical team and the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, shall order their execution in a penitentiary institution in accordance with the general regime provided for in the General Prison Organization Act, unless, exceptionally, he understands in consideration of the concurrent circumstances involved in the use of the measures provided for in articles 13 and 51 of this Law or their stay in the centre in compliance with that measure when the minor responds to the objectives set out in the judgment.

4. If the minor becomes subject to the measure of detention in a prison, the other measures imposed by the Juvenile Judge which are still pending execution or which are being carried out simultaneously with the measure of detention, if they are not compatible with the prison system, shall cease to apply, without prejudice to the exceptional application of articles 13 and 51 of this Act.

5. The measure of detention in closed conditions imposed by the Juvenile Judge under this Act shall be carried out in a penitentiary institution in accordance with the general regime provided for in the General Organization of the Prisons Act provided that, prior to the commencement of the execution of that measure, the person responsible has already served, in whole or in part, either a prison sentence imposed in accordance with the Spanish Criminal Codeor a measure of detention carried out in a prison in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article.

It is amended by article 10 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 15. The prescription.

1. Criminal acts committed by minors prescribe:

1. Under the rules contained in the Spanish Criminal Codein the case of criminal acts defined in the Articles 138, 139, 179, 180 and 571-580 of the Criminal Code or any other sanctioned in the Spanish Criminal Code or in special criminal laws with imprisonment of 15 years or more.

2. At five years of age, in the case of a serious offence punishable by Spanish Criminal Code with a sentence of more than 10 years.

3rd At the age of three, in the case of any other serious offence.

4o Per year, in the case of a less serious offence. 5. o At three months, in the case of a misdemeanour.

2. Measures lasting more than two years shall be prescribed at three years. The remaining measures shall be prescribed at two years, except for the reprimand, community benefits and weekend stay, which shall be prescribed annually.

It is amended by article 11 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE III

Investigation of the proceedings

CHAPTER I

General rules

Article 16. File initiation.

1. The prosecution is responsible for investigating the facts referred to in article 1 of this Act.

2. Those who have received information of any act referred to in the preceding paragraph, allegedly committed by a minor under 18 years of age, must inform the Public Prosecutor's Office, which will admit or not to proceed with the complaint, depending on whether the acts are or do not constitute an offence; it will guard the pieces, documents and effects referred to it; and it will carry out, where appropriate, any steps it deems appropriate for the verification of the act and the responsibility of the minor in its commission, being able to resolve the file of the proceedings when the acts do not constitute an offence or have no known perpetrator. The decision on the complaint shall be notified to those who have made the complaint.

3. Once the proceedings referred to in the preceding paragraph have been carried out, the Public Prosecutor's Office shall give an account of the initiation of the case file to the juvenile judge, who shall initiate the appropriate procedural proceedings.

4. The juvenile judge shall at the same time order the opening of the separate civil liability section, which shall be processed in accordance with the rules of article 64 of this Law.

5. Where the acts referred to in article 1 have been committed jointly by adults and persons of the ages referred to in article 1, the investigating judge competent to hear the case shall, as soon as he has ascertained the age of the accused, take the necessary measures to ensure the success of the investigative activity with respect to the adults and order the transmission of testimony from the persons concerned to the Public Prosecutor for the purposes provided for in paragraph 2 of this article.

Paragraphs 4 and 5 are amended by the sole article.12 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 17. Detention of minors.

1. The authorities and officials involved in the detention of a minor must do so in a manner that would be of the least disadvantage to him and must inform him, in a clear and understandable language and immediately, of the facts against him, of the reasons for his arrest and of the rights enjoyed by him, especially those recognized in the Section 520 of the Criminal Procedure Actand to ensure respect for them. They shall also immediately notify the juvenile ' s legal representatives and the Public Prosecutor ' s Office of the fact of the arrest and place of custody. If the detained child is a foreigner, the fact of the arrest shall be notified to the relevant consular authorities when the child has his or her habitual residence outside Spain or when requested by the minor or his or her legal representatives.

2. Any statement by the detainee shall be made in the presence of his or her counsel and those who exercise parental authority, guardianship or guardianship of the minor - in fact or in law - unless, in the latter case, the circumstances advise otherwise. In the absence of the latter, the statement shall be made in the presence of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, represented by a person other than the investigator of the file.

The detained minor shall have the right to a confidential interview with his lawyer prior to and at the end of the practice of taking evidence.

3. For the duration of detention, minors shall be placed in appropriate and separate facilities from those used for adults, and shall receive such care, protection and social, psychological, medical and physical assistance as may be required, in view of their age, sex and individual characteristics.

4. The detention of a minor by police officers may not last longer than is strictly necessary for the conduct of investigations aimed at clarifying the facts, and in any event, within a maximum period of 24 hours, the minor arrested shall be released or placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office. Where appropriate, the provisions of Article 520 bis of the Criminal Procedure Actby conferring jurisdiction on the juvenile court for the judicial decisions provided for in that provision.

5. When the detainee is placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the latter must decide, within 48 hours of the arrest, on the release of the minor, on the withdrawal referred to in the following article, or on the initiation of the file, making the minor available to the competent juvenile judge and urging the appropriate precautionary measures, as provided for in article 28.

6. The competent judge for habeas corpus proceedings in respect of a minor shall be the examining magistrate of the place where the minor is deprived of liberty; if he does not know, the place where the arrest took place; and, in the absence of the previous, the place where the last news of the whereabouts of the minor in detention has been received. Where the habeas corpus procedure is instituted by the minor himself, the police force responsible for the arrest shall immediately notify the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, in addition to carrying out the procedure under the organic law regulating it.

The second subparagraph is added to paragraph 2 by the sole article 13 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 18. Discontinuance of the opening of the file for correction in the educational and family field.

The Public Prosecutor ' s Office may withdraw from the opening of the file if the acts reported constitute less serious crimes without violence or intimidation in persons or offences, as defined in the Spanish Criminal Code or in special criminal laws. In such a case, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall transfer the proceedings to the public entity for the protection of minors for the implementation of the provisions of article 3 of this Law. In addition, the Prosecutor ' s Office shall inform the injured or known injured persons of the agreed withdrawal.

However, when it is clear that the minor has committed other acts of the same nature previously, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall initiate the case file and, where appropriate, act as authorized by article 27.4 of this Law.

Paragraph 1 is amended by the sole article 14 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 19. Dismissal of the file for conciliation or reparation between the minor and the victim.

1. The Prosecutor ' s Office may also desist from the continuation of the case file, taking into account the gravity and circumstances of the facts and the minor ' s case, in particular the absence of serious violence or intimidation in the commission of the facts, and the fact that the minor has also reconciled with the victim or has undertaken to make reparation for the harm caused to the victim or the victim affected by the crime, or has undertaken to carry out the educational activity proposed by the technical team in its report.

Discontinuance of the file shall be possible only if the act charged to the minor constitutes a less serious offence or a misdemeanour.

2. For the purposes of the preceding subparagraph, conciliation shall be deemed to have taken place when the minor acknowledges the harm caused and apologizes to the victim, and the victim accepts his apology, and reparation shall mean the commitment made by the minor to the victim or the injured party to take certain actions for the benefit of the victim or the community, followed by their effective performance. This is without prejudice to the agreement reached by the parties on civil liability.

Where the measure results from the commission of any of the offences set forth in Chapters I and II of the Convention, Part VIII of the Criminal Codeor related to gender-based violence, shall have no effect of conciliation unless the victim expressly requests it and the minor has also carried out the secondary measure of sex education and education for equality.

3. The relevant technical team shall perform the functions of mediation between the minor and the victim or injured, for the purposes indicated in the preceding paragraphs, and shall inform the Public Prosecutor of the commitments undertaken and the degree of compliance.

4. Once the conciliation has taken place or the reparation commitments entered into with the victim or injured by the crime or misdemeanour committed, or when one or the other cannot be carried out for reasons beyond the control of the minor, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall terminate the investigation and shall request the judge to dismiss and close the proceedings, with a reference to the proceedings.

5. In the event that the minor fails to comply with the reparation or educational activity agreed upon, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office will continue the processing of the file.

6. In cases where the victim of the offence or misdemeanour is a minor or incapable person, the commitment referred to in this article shall be made by the legal representative of the offence or misdemeanour, with the approval of the Juvenile Judge.

Paragraph 2 is amended with effect from 7 October 2022, by final provision 7.4 of Organic Law 10/2022 of 6 September. Ref. BOE-A-2022-14630

Paragraph 2 is amended by article 15 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 20. File unit.

1. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall initiate proceedings for each criminal act, except for related criminal acts.

2. All proceedings involving the same minor shall be filed in the personal file opened by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office. Likewise, the proceedings shall be closed in the juvenile court concerned.

3. In cases where the offences attributed to the minor were committed in different territories, the determination of the competent judicial body for the prosecution of all of them in a file unit, as well as of the public entities competent for the execution of the measures applied, shall be made taking into account the place of the minor's domicile and, subsidiarily, the criteria expressed in the Article 18 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

4. Proceedings within the competence of the National High Court may not be combined with other proceedings conducted in the area of juvenile jurisdiction, whether or not the accused persons are the same.

It is amended by article 16 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 21. Referral to the competent body.

Where knowledge of the facts does not fall within the competence of the Juvenile Courts, the Prosecutor shall agree to refer the proceedings to the legally competent body.

Article 22. The opening of the file.

1. From the moment the file is opened, the minor shall have the right to:

(a) To be informed by the judge, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, or police officer of the rights accorded to him.

(b) To appoint counsel to defend him, or to be appointed on his own initiative and to meet with him privately, even before giving a statement.

(c) To intervene in the proceedings during the preliminary investigation and in the judicial process, and to propose and request, respectively, the practice of proceedings.

(d) To be heard by the judge or court before making any decision concerning him personally.

(e) Affective and psychological assistance in any state and level of the proceedings, with the presence of the parents or of another person indicating the minor, if the juvenile judge authorizes his presence.

(f) Assistance from the services of the technical team attached to the Juvenile Court.

2. The file shall be notified to the minor from the moment of its initiation, except as provided for in Article 24. To this end, the Prosecutor shall require the minor and his legal representatives to appoint counsel within three days, warning them that, if not, he shall be appointed ex officio from among the members of the specialist staff of the relevant Bar Association. Once such designation has occurred, the Prosecutor shall inform the Juvenile Judge of the matter.

3. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall also notify the person who appears to be injured, from the moment the file is examined, of the possibility of carrying out the civil actions that may be appropriate to him, and shall appear before the juvenile judge in the civil liability section to be dealt with by him.

Paragraph 2 is amended by article 17 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 23. Investigating by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office.

1. The purpose of the investigation by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office is to assess the child ' s participation in the events in order to express the reproach that his conduct deserves, and to propose specific measures of educational content and to punish them appropriate to the circumstances of the act and its perpetrator and, above all, to the interest of the least valued in the case.

2. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall give the case file to the minor ' s counsel and, where appropriate, to the person who has instituted criminal proceedings, within a period not exceeding 24 hours, as often as the minor so requests.

3. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office may not itself carry out restrictive actions concerning fundamental rights, but must request the Court to apply for the practice of those necessary for the proper conduct of investigations. The juvenile judge shall decide on this request by reasoned order. The practice of such proceedings shall be documented in separate parts.

4. The Public Prosecutor's Office, on its own initiative or at the request of any of the parties concerned, shall request the juvenile court to give evidence of the victim or any other witness, with the guarantees of the pre-established evidence, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. Spanish Criminal Procedure Actensuring in any case the principle of contradiction when one of the following situations occurs:

(a) When there is a risk of impossibility of taking part in the oral proceedings.

(b) In the case of a particularly vulnerable person. In any event, such consideration shall be given to any person under fourteen years of age or to a person with disabilities in need of special protection.

Paragraph 4 is added, with effect from 3 April 2025, by Art. 23.2 of Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January. Ref. BOE-A-2025-76

Paragraph 2 is amended by the sole article 18 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 24. Secret of the file.

The juvenile court judge may, at the request of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the minor or his family, or the person conducting the criminal proceedings, order the secrecy of the case, in whole or in part, during the entire investigation or for a limited period of time. However, the lawyer of the minor and the person conducting the criminal proceedings must, in any event, be fully aware of the case file when evacuating the case. This incident will be dealt with by the Court in a separate piece.

It is amended by article 19 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 25. From the private prosecution.

Persons directly offended by the offence, their parents, their heirs or their legal representatives, if they are minors or incompetent, with the powers and rights deriving from being a party to the proceedings, including, inter alia:

(a) To exercise a particular accusation during the proceedings.

(b) To urge the imposition of the measures referred to in this Act.

(c) Have a hearing of the proceedings, being notified of the steps requested and agreed upon.

(d) Propose evidence of the criminal act and the circumstances of its commission, except in relation to the psychological, educational, family and social situation of the child.

(e) To participate in the practice of evidence, either at the pre-trial stage or at the hearing stage; for this purpose, the acting body may refuse the practice of the evidence of caeo, if requested, if it is not essential for the investigation of the facts or the participation of the minor in them.

(f) Be heard in all incidents handled during the proceedings.

(g) To be heard in the event of a modification or replacement of measures imposed on the child.

(h) To participate in hearings or hearings.

(i) To formulate appropriate resources in accordance with this law.

Once the juvenile judge has admitted the personation of the individual prosecutor, he or she shall be transferred from all proceedings conducted in accordance with this law and allowed to intervene in all proceedings in defence of his or her interests.

It is amended by final provision 2.2 of Organic Law 15/2003 of 25 November. Ref. BOE-A-2003-21538.

Article 26. Diligencies proposed by the parties.

1. The parties may request from the Prosecutor ' s Office the practice of any steps they deem necessary. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall decide on their admission by means of a reasoned decision, which shall notify the minor ' s counsel and the person in his or her case who brings criminal proceedings and shall bring them to the attention of the juvenile judge. The parties may, at any time, reproduce before the Juvenile Court the request for the unheard-of proceedings.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, where either party proposes that the declaration of the minor be carried out, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall receive it in the file, unless the investigation has already been completed and the file has been referred to the Juvenile Court.

3. If the proceedings proposed by either party affect the fundamental rights of the minor or other persons, the Public Prosecutor's Office, if it deems the application relevant, shall address the Juvenile Judge in accordance with the provisions of article 23.3, without prejudice to the power of the person who has proposed the action to reproduce his application to the Juvenile Judge in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article.

It is amended by article 20 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 27. Technical team report.

1. During the investigation of the case file, the Public Prosecutor shall require the technical team, which for this purpose shall depend functionally on any organizational unit, to draw up a report or update of those previously issued, which shall be submitted to him within a maximum period of 10 days, which may be extended for a period not exceeding one month in cases of great complexity, on the psychological, educational and family situation of the minor, as well as on his/her social environment, and in general on any other relevant circumstances for the purpose of adopting any of the measures provided for in this Law.

2. The technical team may also propose a socio-educational intervention on the minor, thereby highlighting those aspects of the intervention that it considers relevant in relation to the intervention.

3. Similarly, the technical team shall, if it deems it appropriate and in the interest of the child, inform the child of the possibility of doing a remedial or conciliation activity with the victim, in accordance with article 19 of this Law, with an express indication of the content and purpose of the said activity. In this case, it will not be necessary to draw up a report on the characteristics and contents of paragraph 1 of this Article.

4. The technical team may also propose in its report the need not to continue the processing of the file in the interest of the child, because the complaint has been sufficiently expressed through the procedures already carried out, or because it considers any intervention to be inappropriate for the interest of the child, given the time elapsed since the commission of the facts. In such cases, if the requirements of article 19.1 of this Act are met, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office may refer the case to the judge with a proposal for dismissal, and may also, if appropriate, forward testimony of the proceedings to the appropriate public child protection agency for the purpose of acting in the protection of the child.

5. In any event, once the report of the technical team has been drawn up, the Prosecutor ' s Office shall immediately forward it to the Juvenile Judge and shall give a copy thereof to the minor ' s counsel.

6. The report referred to in this article may be drawn up or supplemented by public or private bodies working in the field of juvenile education and aware of the situation of the child concerned.

CHAPTER II

Of the precautionary measures

Article 28. General rules.

1. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office, acting on its own initiative or at the request of the person who has instituted criminal proceedings, may, at any time, request the juvenile court to take precautionary measures to ensure the custody and defence of the child, or to ensure that the victim ' s legal assets are properly protected, where there is reasonable evidence of the commission of an offence and the risk of circumventing or obstructing the action of the juvenile. Such measures may include placement in a centre under the appropriate regime, probation, prohibition of approaching or communicating with the victim or with those of his or her relatives or other persons determined by the judge, or cohabitation with another person, family or educational group. The judge, having heard the minor's counsel, as well as the technical team and the representation of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, who shall report in particular on the nature of the interim measure, shall decide on the proposed measures, taking particular account of the interests of the minor. The interim measure may be maintained until final judgement is given.

2. The adoption of the precautionary measure of detention shall take into account the seriousness of the facts, including the personal and social circumstances of the minor, the existence of a certain danger of escape, and, in particular, the fact that the minor had committed other serious acts of the same nature or not previously. The juvenile court judge shall, at the request of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office or of the individual prosecutor ' s office, decide on a hearing to be attended by the minor ' s counsel, the other parties concerned, the representative of the technical team and the representative of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, who shall inform the judge of the desirability of the adoption of the measure requested in accordance with the criteria set out in this article. At such appearance, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the parties concerned may propose the means of proof that may be used at the event or within twenty-four hours.

3. The maximum period of time for the preventive measure of detention shall be six months, and may be extended, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, after hearing the minor's counsel and by reasoned order, for a maximum of three months.

4. Precautionary measures shall be documented in the Juvenile Court in a separate part of the file.

5. The period of time for the enforcement of the precautionary measures shall be paid in full for the performance of the measures that may be imposed in the same case or, failing that, in other cases that have been the subject of acts prior to the adoption of those measures. The judge, on the proposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office and hearing the lawyer of the minor and the technical team that reported the interim measure, shall order that the measure imposed on the party that he considers reasonably compensated by the interim measure be deemed to have been executed.

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are amended by article 21 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 29. Interim measures in cases of exemption from liability.

If, during the course of the investigation conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office, it is sufficiently established that the minor is in a situation of mental alienation or any other of the circumstances provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of the Article 20 of the Criminal Code In force, the necessary precautionary measures shall be taken for the protection and custody of the child in accordance with the applicable civil provisions, where appropriate, by requiring the proceedings for the incapacitation of the child and the establishment of the guardianship bodies in accordance with the law, without prejudice to the completion of the investigation and the implementation of the allegations provided for in this law, as set out in articles 5.2 and 9, and to request, through the procedures of the Act, any therapeutic measure appropriate to the interests of the child as provided for in this Act.

CHAPTER III

The conclusion of the investigation

Article 30. Referral of the file to the Juvenile Judge.

1. After the investigation, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office shall decide on the conclusion of the case file, informing the parties concerned, and shall forward to the Juvenile Court the case file, together with any evidence and other effects that may exist, with a statement of allegations containing the description of the facts, the legal assessment of the facts, the degree of participation of the minor, a brief account of the minor ' s personal and social circumstances, the proposal of any measure provided for in this Act with a reasoned statement of the legal and educational grounds which give it advice, and, where appropriate, the requirement of civil liability.

2. In the same act, the Public Prosecutor shall propose proof that he intends to defend his procedural claim.

3. The Public Prosecutor may also propose the participation in the hearing of persons or representatives of public and private institutions who may contribute to the proceedings elements that assess the interests of the child and the desirability or otherwise of the measures requested. In any event, persons or institutions who have been harmed by the offence, as well as those responsible for the offence, shall be called to the hearing.

4. The Public Prosecutor ' s Office may also request the juvenile judge to discontinue proceedings on any of the grounds provided for in the Spanish Criminal Procedure Actas well as the referral of the necessary individuals to the public entity for the protection of minors where appropriate.

Paragraphs 1 and 3 are amended by article 22 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE IV

From the hearing phase

Article 31. Opening of the hearing phase.

Having received the statement of allegations with the file, the evidence, the effects and other elements relevant to the proceedings referred by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the clerk of the Juvenile Court shall incorporate them into the proceedings, and the juvenile judge shall proceed to open the hearing proceedings, for which the court clerk shall transmit simultaneously to those who pursue criminal and civil proceedings, so that within a common period of five working days they may make their respective pleadings and propose the evidence they deem relevant. After this procedure has been completed, the court clerk shall transfer all proceedings to the minor ' s counsel and, where appropriate, to the civil persons responsible, so that within five working days he or she may make written submissions and propose any evidence he or she considers relevant.

It is amended by article 23 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 32. Conformity ruling.

If the statement of allegations of the prosecution requests the imposition of any or all of the measures provided for in Article 7(1)(e) to (n) and the consent of the minor and his or her counsel, as well as of the civil persons responsible, which shall be expressed in the presence of the juvenile court in accordance with Article 36, the juvenile court shall render a judgement without further delay.

Where the minor and his counsel differ only in respect of civil liability, the hearing shall be limited to the evidence and discussion of the points relating to such liability.

Where the person or persons against whom the civil action is brought are not in conformity with the civil liability sought, the proceedings of the hearing shall be conducted only with regard to the latter, and the proposed evidence shall be used to determine the scope of the proceedings.

It is amended by article 24 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 33. Other decisions of the Juvenile Judge.

In cases not covered by the preceding article, in the light of the request of the Public Prosecutor and the submissions of the parties, the Judge shall take one of the following decisions:

(a) The holding of the hearing.

(b) Discontinuance of proceedings by reasoned order.

(c) The dismissal of proceedings involving the referral of individuals to the relevant public child protection agency when so requested by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office.

(d) Referral of the proceedings to the competent judge, where the juvenile judge considers that he or she is not competent to hear the case.

(e) Practice in itself the evidence proposed by the parties and denied by the Prosecutor during the investigation, as provided for in article 26.1 of this Law, and which cannot be held during the course of the hearing, provided that it considers that it is relevant for the purposes of the proceedings. Once practiced, it will forward the results to the Public Prosecutor's Office and to the parties in person, before starting the sessions of the hearing.

The remedies provided for in this Act shall be applicable against the above-mentioned decisions.

It is amended by article 25 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 34. Relevance of evidence and disclosure of the hearing.

The juvenile court judge shall, within five days of the submission of the pleadings of the minor ' s counsel and, where appropriate, of the civil persons responsible, or after the expiry of the period for the submission of the case without having been made, agree, where appropriate, on the relevance of the proposed evidence, by order opening the hearing, and the court clerk shall indicate the date and time at which the hearing should begin within ten days thereafter.

It is amended by article 26 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 35. Attendees and non-advertising audiences.

1. The hearing shall be conducted with the assistance of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the parties concerned, the minor ' s counsel, a representative of the technical team who has evacuated the report provided for in article 27 of this Law, and the minor himself, who may be accompanied by his legal representatives, unless the judge, having heard the aforementioned Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the minor ' s counsel and the representative of the technical team, agrees otherwise. The representative of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors who has intervened in the proceedings of the investigation may also be present, when precautionary or definitive measures imposed on the child previously have been carried out. Likewise, the person or persons to whom civil liability is demanded must appear; although their unjustified absence will not in itself be a reason for suspending the hearing.

2. The judge may agree, in the interest of the accused person or the victim, that the sessions shall not be public and in no case shall the media be allowed to obtain or disseminate images of the minor or data enabling his identification.

3. Those who pursue criminal proceedings in the proceedings regulated by this Law shall strictly respect the right of the minor to confidentiality and the non-disclosure of his or her personal data or of the data contained in the file under investigation, as established by the Juvenile Justice. Any person who infringes this rule shall be liable for the civil and criminal responsibilities involved.

Paragraph 1 is amended and Article 27 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December is added to Article 3. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 36. Conformity of the minor.

1. The court clerk shall inform the juvenile, in understandable language and adapted to his age, of the measures and civil liability requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office and, where appropriate, the individual prosecution and the civil actor in their pleadings, as well as the facts and the case in which they are based.

2. The judge will then ask the minor whether he pleads to be the perpetrator of the acts and whether he agrees with the measures requested and with the civil liability. If the minor's counsel and the person or persons against whom the civil action is brought are in agreement with these points, the judge may issue a decision in accordance with the law. If the lawyer does not agree with the agreement of the minor himself, the judge shall decide whether or not to continue the hearing, reasoning this decision in the judgment.

3. If the minor is in conformity with the facts but not with the measure requested, the proceedings of the hearing shall be conducted only with regard to the latter, the proposed evidence being used to determine the application of that measure or its replacement by a measure more appropriate to the interests of the minor and which has been proposed by either party.

4. Where the minor or the person or persons against whom the civil action is brought are not in conformity with the civil liability sought, the proceedings of the hearing shall be conducted only with regard to the latter, and the proposed evidence shall be used to determine the scope of the proceedings.

It is amended by the sole article. 28 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 37. Celebration of the hearing.

1. Where the hearing is appropriate, the judge shall invite the Public Prosecutor, those who have brought criminal proceedings, the minor ' s counsel, and, where appropriate, and in matters strictly related to civil liability of the civil actor and third parties who are civilly liable, to state what they consider appropriate concerning the practice of new evidence or the violation of any fundamental right in the conduct of the proceedings, or, where appropriate, to reveal to them the possibility of applying a different qualification or a different measure from those which they have requested. The judge shall then agree to continue the hearing or to terminate the right violated, if appropriate. If the judge agrees to continue the hearing, the judge shall decide in the judgment on the points raised.

2. The proposed and accepted test shall then be conducted and the test offered by the parties to the proceedings after a declaration of relevance, and the technical team on the circumstances of the minor shall be heard. The judge shall then hear from the Public Prosecutor's Office, the person who has brought criminal proceedings, the minor's lawyer and the civil and third party party civilly responsible for the rights to which he or she is entitled, concerning the assessment of the evidence, its legal qualification and the origin of the proposed measures; on the latter point, the technical team and, where appropriate, the public entity for the protection or reform of minors shall also be heard. Finally, the judge will hear the minor, leaving the file to be heard for judgment.

3. Where appropriate, the provisions of the legislation on the protection of witnesses and experts in criminal cases shall apply in this procedure.

4. If, at the hearing, the judge considers, on his own motion or at the request of the parties, that the minor's interest advises him to leave the courtroom, he may so agree on the merits, ordering that the proceedings continue until the minor can return to the courtroom.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 are amended by article 29 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE V

Judgment

Article 38. Time limit for sentencing.

After the hearing, the juvenile judge shall deliver a sentence within a maximum period of five days.

It is amended by article 30 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 39. Content and record of the judgment.

1. The judgment shall contain all the requirements laid down in the present judgment. Organization of the Judiciary Act and in it, assessing the evidence, the reasons given by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the parties in person and the minor's counsel, the evidence expressed in his case by the juvenile, taking into account the circumstances and gravity of the facts, as well as all the data discussed on the minor's personality, situation, needs and family and social environment, the juvenile's age at the time of sentencing, and the fact that the minor had committed other facts of the same nature or not before, shall decide on the proposed measure or measures, with express indication of their content, duration and objectives to be achieved with them. The judgement shall be reasoned, expressly stating the facts that are proved and the evidentiary means of which the judicial conviction results. The same judgement shall rule on civil liability arising from the offence or misdemeanour, with the content indicated in the Article 115 of the Criminal Code. The judgement may also be made orally at the end of the hearing, without prejudice to its documentation under rule 248.3 of the Rules of Procedure. Organization of the Judiciary Act.

2. The judge, when drafting the sentence, shall endeavour to express his reasoning in a clear and understandable language for the age of the minor.

3. Each juvenile court shall keep a register of judgements, including all final ones signed. The maintenance and custody of such records is the responsibility of the court clerk.

Paragraphs 1 and 3 are amended by article 31 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 40. Suspension of execution of judgement.

1. The judge responsible for the execution, on his own initiative or at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office or of the minor's counsel, and heard in any case by them, as well as the representative of the technical team and of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, may give reasoned agreement to suspend the execution of the judgement contained in the sentence, if the measure imposed does not exceed two years, for a specified period and up to a maximum of two years. Such suspension shall be agreed in the judgment itself or by a reasoned order of the Judge competent for enforcement where it is final, and in any event the conditions thereof shall be expressed. Except for the suspension of the decision on civil liability arising from the offence or misdemeanour.

2. The conditions for suspension of execution of the judgement contained in the judgement of the Juvenile Judge shall be as follows:

(a) Not to be sentenced in final judgement for an offence committed during the duration of the suspension, if it has reached the age of majority, or not to be applied to it in final judgement in proceedings regulated by this Law for the duration of the suspension.

(b) The child undertakes to show an attitude and willingness to reintegrate into society, not by committing new offences.

(c) In addition, the judge may provide for the application of a probation regime during the period of suspension or the obligation to engage in a socio-educational activity, recommended by the technical team or the public entity for the protection or reform of minors in the previous hearing procedure, including with a commitment to the participation of the parents, guardians or guardians of the child, expressing the nature and the time period within which such activity shall be carried out.

3. If the conditions set out in the preceding paragraph are not met, the judge shall suspend the sentence and the sentence shall be executed in all its respects. Appeals under this Act may be lodged against a decision which so agrees.

Paragraph 1 is amended by article 32 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE VI

From the resource system

Article 41. Resources available and processing.

1. An appeal against the sentence handed down by the Juvenile Justice in the proceedings regulated by this Act may be lodged with the Provincial Court, which shall be brought before the judge who issued the decision within five days of its notification, and shall be decided upon after a public hearing, unless, in the interest of the accused person or the victim, the Judge agrees to hold it in camera. The parties must attend the hearing and, if the Tribunal deems it appropriate, the representative of the technical team and the representative of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors who have intervened in the particular case. The appellant may request from the Court the practice of evidence which, proposed and admitted to the hearing, had not been held, in accordance with the rules of the Court's Spanish Criminal Procedure Act.

2. Orders and orders of juvenile judges can be appealed to the court itself, which will be filed within three days of notification. An order ruling the challenge of the order shall be subject to appeal.

3. Appeals may be lodged with the Provincial High Court against orders that terminate proceedings or resolve the incident under articles 13, 28, 29 and 40 of this Act. Spanish Criminal Procedure Act for the abbreviated procedure.

4. Appeals may be lodged with the Criminal Division of the National High Court against the orders and sentences handed down by the Central Juvenile Court of the National High Court.

5. The same remedies are available against decisions handed down by court clerks as those expressed in the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act, which shall be substance in the form determined therein.

Paragraph 3 and the heading are amended and paragraphs 4 and 5 are added by Article 33 and 34 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Paragraphs 1 and 3 are amended by Article 6 of Organic Law 9/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23661.

Article 42. Appeal for unification of doctrine.

1. Appeals against decisions handed down on appeal by the National High Court and the Provincial High Courts in cassation before the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court are subject to appeal when one of the measures referred to in article 10 has been imposed.

2. The purpose of the appeal shall be the unification of doctrine on the occasion of judgements handed down on appeal which are contradictory to each other, or on the basis of judgements of the Supreme Court, in respect of facts and assessments of the circumstances of the minor, which, being substantially equal, have, however, resulted in different pronouncements.

3. The appeal may be prepared by the Public Prosecutor ' s Office or by any of the parties seeking the aforementioned unification of doctrine within 10 days of the notification of the judgement of the National or Provincial High Court, in writing addressed to it. The statement of preparation shall contain a precise and circumstantial account of the alleged contradiction, with the designation of the judgments referred to and the reports on which the interest of the least valued in the judgment is based.

4. If the National or Provincial High Court before which the appeal has been prepared considers the requirements referred to in the preceding subparagraph to be established, the Registrar shall require testimony of the above-mentioned judgements to the courts that issued them, and shall within 10 days forward the documentation to the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court, placing the appellant and the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, if not, before that Chamber.

5. The appeal shall be brought before the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court, and the provisions of the Convention shall apply to the appeal, substantiation and resolution of the appeal. Spanish Criminal Procedure Act, as soon as it becomes applicable.

It is amended by article 35 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

TITLE VII

Implementation of the measures

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 43. Principle of legality.

1. None of the measures provided for in this Act may be carried out except by virtue of a final judgment issued in accordance with the procedure regulated therein.

2. Nor may such measures be implemented in any other way than that prescribed by this Act and by the regulations implementing it.

Article 44. Jurisdiction.

1. Enforcement of the measures provided for in this Act shall be carried out under the supervision of the juvenile judge who has issued the relevant judgement, except where, pursuant to articles 12 and 47 of this Act, another court is competent, which shall decide by reasoned order, after hearing the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the lawyer of the minor and the representation of the public entity carrying out the sentence, on the incidents which may occur during the course of the proceedings.

2. In order to exercise control over the execution, the following functions are particularly assigned to the juvenile judge, either ex officio or at the request of the Public Prosecutor or the minor ' s counsel:

(a) To take all necessary decisions for the effective implementation of the measures imposed.

(b) Resolve proposals for review of measures.

(c) Approve programmes for the implementation of the measures.

(d) To learn about the progress of minors in the implementation of the measures through the follow-up reports.

(e) Resolve appeals against decisions rendered for the execution of measures, as provided for in article 52 of this Act.

(f) To agree on any petitions or complaints that may be raised by juveniles against the regime, treatment or any other circumstances that may affect their fundamental rights.

(g) Conduct regular visits to centres and interviews with minors.

(h) To make such proposals and recommendations to the relevant public child protection or reform entity as it deems appropriate in relation to the organization and regime of implementation of the measures.

(i) To adopt the decisions which, in relation to the disciplinary regime, are assigned to them by article 60 of this Act.

3. Where, pursuant to article 14 of this Act, the measure of detention is carried out in a penitentiary establishment, the juvenile judge competent for execution shall retain the competence to decide on the continued existence, modification or replacement of the measure as provided for in this Act, assuming that the judge of prison supervision shall monitor the incidence of the execution of the measure in all matters and matters covered by the prison legislation.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 (b) are amended and Article 3 is added by Article 36.1 to 3 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 45. Administrative responsibility.

1. The enforcement of the measures taken by juvenile judges in their final judgements falls within the competence of the Autonomous Communities and the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in accordance with the Final Provision Twenty-second of Organic Law 1/1996 of 15 January 1996Legal Protection of Minors. Such public entities shall, in accordance with their respective organizational rules, carry out the establishment, direction, organization and management of appropriate services, institutions and programmes to ensure the proper implementation of the measures provided for in this Law.

2. Implementation of the measures shall be the responsibility of the Autonomous Communities and Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, where the juvenile court which issued the sentence is located, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 3 of the following article.

3. The Autonomous Communities and the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla may establish the necessary cooperation agreements or agreements with other entities, whether public, of the State, Local or other Autonomous Communities, or private, not for profit, for the execution of the measures of their competence, under their direct supervision, without in any case entailing the assignment of ownership and responsibility arising from such execution.

CHAPTER II

Rules for the implementation of measures

Article 46. Settlement of the measure and transfer of the minor to a centre.

1. Once the sentence has been signed and the programme for the implementation of the measure has been approved, the secretary of the Juvenile Court responsible for the execution of the measure shall proceed with the liquidation of the measure, indicating the dates of commencement and termination of the measure, subject to payment of the time taken by the precautionary measures imposed on the person concerned, taking into account article 28.5. At the same time, it shall open an enforcement file setting out the effects on the development of the law as set out in this Act.

2. In the event of the liquidation referred to in the preceding paragraph and of the testimony of individuals which the judge considers necessary and which must include the technical reports in the case, the judicial secretary shall transmit to the public body for the protection or reform of minors competent to comply with the measures agreed in the final judgment. It shall also notify the Public Prosecutor ' s Office of the commencement of execution, and the juvenile ' s counsel if requested by the Juvenile Judge.

3. Having received from the public body the evidence and the liquidation of the measure referred to in the preceding paragraph, the latter shall immediately appoint a professional who shall be responsible for the execution of the measure imposed, and, if the latter is placed in detention, shall designate the most appropriate centre for its execution from among those closest to the minor's home where places are available for execution by the competent public body in each case. The transfer to a centre other than the above may only be based on the interest of the child to be removed from his/her family and social environment and in any event require the approval of the juvenile court competent for the execution of the measure. In any event, minors belonging to a gang, organization or association may not comply with the measure imposed in the same centre, and they must be appointed a different one, even if the choice of the centre means that they are separated from the family or social environment.

It is amended by article 37 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 47. Recast of measures imposed.

1. If several measures have been imposed on the minor in the same judicial decision and their simultaneous enforcement is not possible, the Judge competent for enforcement shall order their successive performance in accordance with the rules laid down in paragraph 5 of this Article.

The same rule shall apply to measures imposed in different court decisions, provided that such measures are of a different nature. In this case, the judge responsible for enforcement shall order simultaneous or successive performance in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Article, as appropriate.

2. If two or more measures of the same nature have been imposed on the minor in different court decisions, the judge competent for the execution, after hearing the minor's counsel, shall consolidate those measures into one, together with the duration thereof, to the limit of twice the most serious of those recast.

The judge, after hearing the minor's counsel, shall thus proceed with respect to each group of measures of the same nature as those imposed on the minor, so that once the recast has been carried out, no more than one measure of each class of measures listed in article 7 of this Law shall remain to be implemented.

3. If, being subject to the enforcement of a measure, the minor commits a criminal act again, the competent judge for enforcement shall, after hearing the minor's counsel, issue the relevant decision in respect of the new measure, if any, imposed, in accordance with the two preceding paragraphs. In this case, it may also apply the rules laid down in Article 50 in the event of a breach of enforcement.

4. For the purposes provided for in this article, as soon as the sentencing judge becomes aware of the existence of other firm enforcement measures, pending execution or conditionally suspended, and once the measure or measures imposed by him are final, he shall proceed in accordance with article 12 of this Law.

5. Where measures of different nature, imposed directly or resulting from the recast provided for in the above numbers, are to be implemented successively, the following criteria shall be met:

(a) The measure of therapeutic internment shall be carried out in preference to any other measure.

(b) The measure of placement in closed detention shall be carried out in preference to the other measures of detention.

(c) The measure of detention shall be enforced before non-custodial detentions, and, if necessary, the execution of such detentions shall be interrupted.

(d) The probation measures referred to in article 10 shall be carried out after the end of the closed detention provided for in the same article.

(e) In the interest of the child, the judge may, after having received a report from the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, the other parties and the public entity responsible for the reform or protection of minors, give a reasoned agreement on the change in the order of compliance provided for in the previous rules.

6. The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the provisions of article 14 in the event that the minor becomes subject to a measure of detention in a prison upon reaching the age of majority.

7. Where a person who is in compliance with one or more measures imposed under this Act is sentenced to a penalty or security measure provided for in the Spanish Criminal Code or in special criminal laws, they shall be carried out simultaneously, if materially possible, taking into account the nature of both, the manner of their execution or the possible suspension of the sentence imposed, where appropriate.

Where simultaneous execution is not possible, the criminal penalty shall be carried out, the measure or measures imposed under this Act being terminated, except in the case of a measure of detention and the sentence imposed shall be imprisonment and must be effectively executed. In the latter case, unless the juvenile judge adopts any of the decisions provided for in article 13 of this Act, the measure of detention shall cease to be carried out in the penitentiary as provided for in article 14, and the sentence shall be carried out once the sentence has been served.

It is amended by article the sole Article, point 38 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 48. Personal file of the person subject to the execution of a measure.

1. The public entity shall open a single personal file to each minor for whom it is responsible for the execution of a measure, which shall record the reports relating to the measure, the judicial decisions affecting him or her and the other documents generated during the execution.

2. Such a file shall be confidential and shall be accessible only to the Ombudsman or similar institution of the Autonomous Community concerned, to the competent juvenile judges, to the Public Prosecutor ' s Office and to persons involved in the execution and authorized by the public body in accordance with its organizational rules. The minor, his or her counsel and, where appropriate, his or her legal representative, shall also have access to the file.

3. The collection, transfer and automated processing of personal data of the persons to whom this Law applies may only be carried out in publicly owned computer files that are dependent on the public entities for the protection of minors, competent administrations and juvenile courts or the Public Prosecutor's Office, and shall be governed by the provisions of the Organic Law 15/1999 of 13 December 1999, Personal Data Protection, and its rules of development.

Article 49. Performance reports.

1. The public entity shall transmit to the Juvenile Justice and the Public Prosecutor, as regularly as may be prescribed in each case and whenever required or deemed necessary by the same entity, reports on the implementation of the measure and its incidences, and on the personal development of the minors subject to it. Such reports shall also be sent to the minor ' s counsel if requested to do so by the competent public body.

2. In the above-mentioned reports, the public entity may request from the Public Prosecutor's Office, when it deems it appropriate, judicial review of the measures in accordance with article 13.1 of this Law.

Paragraph 2 is amended by article 39 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 50. Execution breakdown.

1. If the minor violates a custodial measure, he or she shall be reinstated in the same facility as he or she has escaped or in another facility appropriate to his or her conditions, or, in the event of a weekend stay, at his or her home, in order to comply continuously with the outstanding time.

2. If the measure breached is not a deprivation of liberty, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office may order the juvenile judge to replace the measure with another measure of the same nature. Exceptionally, and on the proposal of the Public Prosecutor, the lawyer and legal representative of the minor, as well as the technical team, may replace the measure by a semi-open detention facility, for the remainder of the time for its execution.

3. The juvenile court judge shall also agree that the registrar shall give testimony of the persons concerned concerning the breach of the measure to the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, in the event that the act constitutes one of the offences referred to in article 1 of this Organic Law and deserves to be punished.

Paragraph 3 is amended by the single Article 40 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 51. Replacement of measures.

1. During the execution of the measures, the juvenile court judge competent for the execution of the measures may, on his own initiative or at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the lawyer of the minor or the competent administration, and the parties heard, as well as the technical team and the representation of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, remove those or replace them with others that are considered more appropriate than those provided for in this Act, for a time equal to or less than that which is retained for their execution, provided that the new measure may have been imposed initially in response to the offence committed. This shall be without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article and in accordance with Article 13 of this Law.

2. Where the juvenile court has replaced the measure of closed detention with the measure of semi-open or open detention, the juvenile may, after hearing the juvenile ' s counsel, change adversely, terminate the replacement, re-applying the measure of substituted closed detention. Similarly, if the measure imposed is semi-open detention and the minor evolves adversely, the juvenile judge may replace it with closed detention, where the criminal act imposed is one of the offences provided for in article 9.2 of this Act.

3. The reconciliation of the minor with the victim, at any time when the agreement between the two parties referred to in article 19 of this Law occurs, may terminate the measure imposed when the judge, on a proposal from the Public Prosecutor's Office or from the counsel of the minor and after hearing the technical equipment and the representation of the public entity for the protection or reform of minors, finds that the act and the duration of the measure already carried out sufficiently express the reproach that the acts committed by the minor deserve.

4. In all previous cases, the judge shall rule by reasoned order against which the remedies provided for in this Act may be lodged.

Paragraph 1 is amended by renumbering 2 and 3 as 3 and 4 and by adding 2 as single Article 41 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 52. Submission of appeals.

1. If the minor intends to appeal to the juvenile court against any decision taken during the execution of the measures imposed on him, he shall submit it in writing to the judge or director of the detention centre, who shall bring him to the attention of the juvenile court within the next working day.

The minor may also file an appeal with the judge orally or verbally express his intention to appeal to the director of the centre, who shall transmit the statement to the juvenile judge within the prescribed time limit. In the latter case, the juvenile court judge shall take such measures as may be appropriate to hear the minor's allegation.

The minor ' s counsel may also lodge a written appeal with the authorities referred to in the first subparagraph.

2. If the juvenile court judge allows the appeal to be heard, the court clerk shall obtain a report from the Public Prosecutor's Office and, after hearing the juvenile's counsel, the juvenile court clerk shall decide the appeal within two days by reasoned order. An appeal against this order may be lodged with the relevant Provincial High Court, in accordance with article 41 of this Law.

Paragraph 2 is amended by article 42 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236,

Article 53. Implementation of the measure.

1. Once the measure has been completed, the public entity shall transmit a final report to the addressees referred to in article 49.1 and the juvenile judge shall issue an order according to the case file. Such an order shall be notified by the court clerk to the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, to the minor ' s counsel, to the public entity and to the victim.

2. The judge may, on his own motion or at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office or of the minor's counsel, order the appropriate public body for the protection or reform of minors, once the measure imposed has been complied with, to establish the mechanisms for the protection of the child in accordance with the rules of the law of the State. Civil Codewhen the interest of the latter so requires.

Paragraph 1 is amended by article 43 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

CHAPTER III

Special rules for the enforcement of custodial measures

Article 54. Centres for the enforcement of custodial measures.

1. Measures of deprivation of liberty, detention and preventive measures of detention imposed under this Act shall be carried out in specific centres for juvenile offenders, different from those provided for in prison law for the execution of criminal sentences and precautionary measures of deprivation of liberty imposed on adults.

The execution of pre-trial detention, the precautionary measures of detention or the measures imposed by the judgement, agreed by the Central Juvenile Judge or by the relevant Chamber of the National High Court, shall be carried out in the establishments and with the supervision of the specialized personnel which the Government makes available to the National High Court, if any, by agreement with the Autonomous Communities.

The execution of the measures imposed by the Central Juvenile Judge or by the relevant Chamber of the National High Court shall be preferred over those imposed, if necessary, by other Juvenile Judges or Chambers.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, detention measures may also be carried out in social and health centres where the measure imposed so requires. In any event, the juvenile judge shall be required to authorize it.

3. The centres shall be divided into modules appropriate to the age, maturity, needs and social skills of the minors in detention and shall be governed by internal rules, the purpose of which shall be to achieve an orderly coexistence, which shall allow the implementation of the different programmes of educational intervention and the functions of custody of the minors in custody.

Paragraph 1 is amended by article 44 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Article 55. Principle of resocialization.

1. All the activities of the centres in which detention measures are carried out shall be based on the principle that the juvenile is a subject of law and continues to be a part of society.

2. Consequently, life in the centre should be based on life at liberty, reducing to the maximum the negative effects that placement may have on the minor or his family, promoting social ties, contact with relatives and relatives, and the collaboration and participation of public and private entities in the process of social integration, especially those closest to them geographically and culturally.

3. To this end, ordinary and extraordinary permits for the minor to be granted shall be laid down in regulations in order to maintain positive contacts with the outside world and to prepare for his future life in freedom.

Article 56. Rights of detained minors.

1. All detained minors have the right to respect for their own personality, their ideological and religious freedom and the legitimate rights and interests not affected by the content of the sentence, especially those inherent in the civil minority where applicable.

2. Accordingly, the following rights are granted to children in detention:

(a) The right to ensure that the public entity to which the centre is dependent is responsible for its life, physical integrity and health, and that it is not in any case subject to degrading treatment or ill-treatment by word of mouth or work, nor to be subjected to arbitrary or unnecessary rigour in the application of the rules.

(b) The right of a minor of civil age to receive comprehensive education and training in all areas and to the specific protection afforded by the law for his or her status.

(c) The right to preserve their dignity and privacy, to be appointed by their own name and to have their status as internees strictly reserved against third parties.

(d) The right to exercise their civil, political, social, religious, economic and cultural rights, except where they are incompatible with the purpose of the arrest or the execution of the sentence.

(e) The right to be in the centre closest to his or her home, in accordance with his or her internment regime, and not to be transferred outside his or her Autonomous Community except in the cases and with the requirements provided for in this Act and its implementing rules.

(f) The right to free health care, to receive compulsory basic education appropriate to their age, whatever their situation in the institution, and to receive educational or vocational training appropriate to their circumstances.

(g) Right of sentenced persons to an individualized treatment programme and of all internees to participate in the activities of the centre.

(h) The right to communicate freely with their parents, legal representatives, family members or other persons, and to enjoy leave and leave, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and its implementing rules.

(i) The right to communicate with counsel, the competent juvenile judge, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office and the inspection services of detention centres.

(j) The right to adequate labour training, paid work, within the availability of the public entity, and to social benefits that may correspond to them, when they reach the legally established age.

(k) The right to submit petitions and complaints to the Directorate of the Centre, to the public body, to the judicial authorities, to the Public Prosecutor, to the Ombudsman or similar institution of its Autonomous Community and to submit all legal remedies provided for in this Act to the competent juvenile court, in defence of their legitimate rights and interests;

(l) The right to receive personal and up-to-date information on their rights and obligations, their personal and judicial situation, the internal operating rules of the centres hosting them, as well as on the specific procedures for the implementation of such rights, in particular for making petitions, complaints or appeals.

(m) The right to have their legal representatives informed of their situation and evolution and of their rights, within the limits provided for in this Act.

(n) The right of minors placed in detention to have their children under the age of three in their company, subject to the conditions and requirements laid down by law.

Article 57. Duties of young people in custody.

Minors in detention shall be obliged to:

(a) To remain in the centre at the disposal of the competent judicial authority until the time of his release, without prejudice to authorized departures and activities that they may carry out abroad.

(b) To receive the compulsory basic education that is legally applicable to them.

(c) To respect and comply with the internal operating rules of the centre and the guidelines or instructions received from its staff in the legitimate exercise of their functions.

(d) To assist in the pursuit of orderly activity within the centre and to maintain a respectful and caring attitude towards all, both within and outside the centre, especially towards the authorities, the workers of the centre and other minors in detention.

(e) Adequate use of the facilities of the centre and the material means at its disposal.

(f) Observe the sanitary and hygienic standards and the clothing and personal toilets established in the centre.

(g) To perform the mandatory personal benefits provided for in the internal operating rules of the centre in order to maintain good order and cleanliness of the centre.

(h) To participate in the training, educational and work activities established in accordance with their personal situation in order to prepare their lives for freedom.

Article 58. Information and complaints.

1. Minors shall receive, upon admission to the centre, written information on their rights and obligations, the detention regime in which they are placed, matters of general organization, rules of operation of the centre, disciplinary rules and means of making petitions, complaints or appeals. The information will be provided in a language they understand. Those who have any kind of difficulty in understanding the content of this information will be explained by another appropriate means.

2. All internees may make, orally or in writing, in open or closed envelope, petitions and complaints to the public entity on matters relating to their placement. Such requests or complaints may also be submitted to the Director of the Centre, who shall deal with them if they fall within his competence or shall bring them to the attention of the public body or competent authorities, if not.

Article 59. Surveillance and security measures.

1. Monitoring and internal security in the centres may involve inspections of premises and premises, as well as searches of persons, clothing and equipment of minors in detention, in the manner and at the intervals established by regulations.

2. Only means of containment that are established by regulations may be used to prevent acts of violence or injury of persons who comply with the measures provided for in this law, themselves or other persons, to prevent escape and damage to the premises of the centre or to the active resistance to the instructions of the staff of the centre in the legitimate exercise of their position.

The attachment of the wrists of a person who complies with an internment measure with approved equipment shall only be admissible on an exceptional basis, provided that it is carried out under a strict protocol and that less harmful measures cannot be applied.

3. Mechanical restraint, consisting of the attachment of a person to an articulated bed or fixed object or anchored to the installations or movable objects, is prohibited.

4. The application of containment measures will require, in all cases where force is used, the physical examination of the inmate by a medical practitioner within 48 hours, with the corresponding medical examination being extended.

5. The measures of restraint applied in the centres must be communicated immediately to the Juvenile Court and the Public Prosecutor ' s Office. They shall also be recorded in the Register of Incidents, which shall be supervised by the management of the centre and in the individualised file of the minor, which shall be kept up to date.

It is amended by final provision 11.2 of Organic Law 8/2021 of 4 June. Ref. BOE-A-2021-9347

Article 60. Disciplinary regime.

1. Minors in detention may be disciplined in cases and in accordance with the procedure to be established by regulation, in accordance with the principles of the Constitutionof this Law and of the Title IX of Law 30/1992 of 26 November 1992the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure, respecting at all times the dignity of those administrations and without in any case being deprived of their rights to food, compulsory education and communications and visits, as provided for in this Law and provisions implementing it.

2. Disciplinary offences shall be classified as very serious, serious and minor, taking into account the violence developed by the subject, its intentionality, the importance of the result and the number of persons offended.

3. The only penalties that may be imposed for the commission of very serious misdemeanours shall be:

(a) The separation of the group for a period of three to seven days in cases of obvious aggression, violence and serious disruption of the coexistence.

(b) Separation from the group for three to five weekends.

(c) Deprivation of weekend departures from fifteen days to one month.

(d) Deprivation of recreational departures for a period of one to two months.

4. The only penalties that may be imposed for serious misdemeanours shall be:

(a) The same as in the four cases in the preceding subparagraph, for the following duration: two days, one or two weekends, one to fifteen days, and one month respectively.

(b) Deprivation of participation in the recreational activities of the centre for a period of seven to fifteen days.

5. The only penalties that may be imposed for the commission of minor offences shall be:

(a) The deprivation of participation in any or all of the recreational activities of the centre for a period of one to six days.

(b) Remand.

6. The penalty of separation shall mean that the minor shall remain in his or her room or other room similar to his or her own, during the hours of the centre's activities, except to attend compulsory education, receive visits and have two hours of time per day in the open air.

7. The juvenile court may, before the commencement of its enforcement, appeal against any decisions that are punishable. To this end, the juvenile may submit the appeal in writing or orally to the director of the establishment, who, within 24 hours, shall transmit the written or oral statement of the complaint, with his own arguments, to the juvenile judge and the juvenile judge, at the end of a hearing and after hearing the Public Prosecutor's Office, shall issue an order confirming, modifying or annulling the sentence imposed, without any appeal being lodged against the order. The order, once notified to the establishment, shall be immediately enforceable. As long as the action is brought, within two days, the public body implementing the measure may take the necessary decisions to restore the altered order, applying the provisions of paragraph 6 of this Article to the person concerned. The minor ' s counsel may also bring the appeals referred to in the preceding paragraph.

TITLE VIII

Civil liability

Article 61. General rules.

1. The prosecution shall bring proceedings for civil liability in the proceedings governed by this Act unless the injured party renounces it, exercises it itself within one month of being notified of the opening of the separate piece of civil liability or reserves it for the purpose of bringing the matter before the civil court order in accordance with the provisions of the law. Civil Code and of the Civil Procedure Act.

2. A separate piece of civil liability shall be processed for each of the acts charged.

3. Where the person responsible for the acts committed is a minor under eighteen years of age, the person concerned shall be liable jointly with him for the damages caused by his parents, guardians, foster parents and legal guardians or, in fact, by this order. Where the latter have not favoured the conduct of the minor with serious negligence or negligence, their responsibility may be moderated by the judge on a case-by-case basis.

4. Where appropriate, the provisions of the Article 145 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November 1992of the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure, and in the Act No. 35/1995 of 11 December 1995assistance and assistance to victims of violent crimes and against sexual freedom, and its additional provisions.

Article 62. Extension of civil liability.

The civil liability referred to in the preceding article shall be governed by the provisions of chapter I of the Convention as to its extent. Title V of Book I of the Penal Code in force.

Article 63. Civil liability of insurers.

Insurers who have assumed the risk of pecuniary responsibilities arising from the acts of minors referred to in this Act shall be liable to direct civil liability up to the limit of legally established or conventionally agreed compensation, without prejudice to their right of repetition against the person concerned.

Article 64. Rules of procedure.

The procedures for the requirement of civil liability referred to in the preceding articles shall be in accordance with the following rules:

1.a As soon as the juvenile judge receives the part of the initiation of the file by the Public Prosecutor's Office, he shall order that a separate piece of civil liability be opened simultaneously with the main proceedings, notifying the court clerk of those who appear to be injured of their right to become a party to the case, and setting the time limit for the exercise of the action.

2.a In the reference document, which shall be processed simultaneously with the main proceedings, the injured persons who have received notification for the purpose of the Juvenile Justice or the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, as provided for in article 22 of this Law, and also those who consider themselves as such, may be brought to justice. In addition, insurance companies which are interested parties may be called in within the time limit for the exercise of the civil liability action. In the statement of personation, they shall indicate the persons they consider responsible for the acts committed and against whom they intend to claim, with sufficient generic indication of their identity.

3.a The court clerk shall notify the minor and his legal representatives, where appropriate, of his or her status as potential civil liability.

4.a Once the alleged injured and responsible civilians are present, the Juvenile Judge shall rule on their status as parties, and the proceedings shall continue under the general rules.

5.a Intervention in the proceedings for the purpose of requiring civil liability shall be carried out under the conditions indicated by the juvenile court in order to preserve the minor ' s privacy and that the knowledge of the documents in the files relates exclusively to those who have a direct connection with the action pursued by them.

It is amended by article 45 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Additional provision one. Application in Military Jurisdiction.

(Repealed)

It is repealed by the sole derogation provision of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Second additional provision. Implementation of measures in cases of health risk.

Where juvenile judges apply any of the therapeutic measures referred to in articles 5.2, 7.1 and 29 of this Law, they may, in the case of communicable diseases or other health risks to minors or those with whom they live, entrust the relevant health authorities or services with their control and monitoring, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. Organic Law 3/1986 of 14 April 1986, of special measures in the field of public health.

Additional provision three. Establishment of the Central Register of Minors.

The Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts shall maintain a Central Registry of Judgments, Precautionary Measures, Precautionary Measures and Rebellion issued or agreed upon in all proceedings under this Organization Act. Access to the data of this Register shall be in accordance with the regulations governing the System of Administrative Records in Support of the Administration of Justice and the Central Register of Sexual Offenders and Human Trafficking, and the applicable legislation on the protection of personal data.

It is amended by final provision 1 of Organic Law 4/2024 of 18 October. Ref. BOE-A-2024-21414

It should be noted that the Central Register of Minors is operational on 8 November 2025, as provided for in the single transitional provision of the aforementioned Organic Law.

Additional provision four. Application to the offences referred to in articles 138, 139, 179, 180, 571 to 580 and those other offences punishable under the Spanish Criminal Code imprisonment for 15 years or more.

(Repealed)

It is repealed by the sole derogation provision of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

It is added by art. 2.3 of Organic Law 7/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23659.

Text added, published 23/12/2000, in force from 13/01/2001.

Additional provision 5.

The Government shall send a report to the Congress of Deputies within five years of the entry into force of this Organic Law, which shall analyse and evaluate the effects and consequences of the implementation of the fourth additional provision.

It is added by art. 2.4 of Organic Law 7/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23659.

Text added, published 23/12/2000, in force from 13/01/2001.

Additional provision 6.

The Government will, after having evaluated the application of this organic law, follow up to the General Council of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Autonomous Communities and parliamentary groups, and will take steps to promote measures aimed at punishing more firmly and effectively the criminal acts committed by persons who, although minors, are particularly serious, such as those provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Articles 138, 139, 179 and 180 of the Criminal Code.

To this end, the possibility of extending the period of detention, its execution in centres where the security measures imposed are strengthened and the possibility of compliance with them from the age of majority in prisons shall be established.

It is added by final provision 2.3 of Organic Law 15/2003 of 25 November. Ref. BOE-A-2003-21538.

Text added, published on 26/11/2003, in force from 27/11/2003.

Single transitional provision. Transitional regime.

1. To acts committed prior to the entry into force of this Law by minors subject to the Organic Law 4/1992 of 5 June 1992on the amendment of the Law regulating jurisdiction and the procedure of juvenile courts, which is repealed, shall apply to them the legislation in force at the time of their commission. Those who are complying with a measure provided for in that provision Organic Law 4/1992 Such compliance shall continue until the termination of liability under the conditions laid down in that Act.

2. Upon the entry into force of this Law, the performance of all measures provided for in this Law shall cease immediately. Organic Law 4/1992 persons under fourteen years of age, the corresponding responsibilities are extinguished.

3. Persons under the age of 18 tried in accordance with the provisions of Spanish Criminal Code of 1973, in the special penal laws repealed or in the provision derogating from Spanish Criminal Code In force, those who have been sentenced to two years ' imprisonment or to imprisonment for more than two years, which are pending compliance with the entry into force of this Act, shall be replaced by one of the measures provided for in this Act, at the request of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, after having been informed by the technical team or the relevant public body for the protection or reform of minors. To this end, the Office of the Public Prosecutor must be transferred to enforceability and provisional punishments imposed on minors under the circumstances provided for in this subparagraph.

4. If, in the cases referred to in the preceding paragraph, the sentence imposed or to be served is less than two years ' imprisonment or of any other nature, a simple probation measure may be imposed on the sentenced person for the remainder of the sentence, if the juvenile judge, at the request of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office and heard by the minor ' s counsel, his legal representative, the relevant public entity for the protection or reform of minors and the sentenced person himself, considers it in accordance with the educational purpose pursued by this Act. In another case, the juvenile judge may be held liable and the sentence is terminated.

5. The decisions of the juvenile judge referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be taken by order of appeal directly on appeal, within five working days, to the Provincial High Court. Juvenile judges shall take such decisions within two months of the entry into force of this Act. During this period, the situation of the minor will not be affected.

6. In criminal proceedings pending the entry into force of this Act, in which persons have been charged for the commission of criminal acts when they have not yet attained the age of eighteen years, the competent judge or court shall refer the proceedings to the Public Prosecutor ' s Office for the purpose of conducting the procedure regulated therein.

Those who are subject to pretrial detention upon entry into force of the Act shall be released and brought to a reform centre at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office. If the Public Prosecutor considers it appropriate to maintain the detention, he shall apply to the Juvenile Judge within 48 hours, who shall call for the appearance provided for in article 28.2.

If the accused is guilty of acts committed when he or she was over eighteen years of age and under twenty-one years of age, the investigating judge shall agree as appropriate, in accordance with article 4 of this Act.

Paragraph 5 is amended and the second subparagraph is added to paragraph 6 by additional provision 3 of Organic Law 9/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23661

Final provision one. Substitute right.

They shall have the character of supplementary rules, for what is not expressly provided for in this Organic Law, in the substantive field, the Spanish Criminal Code and special criminal laws, and, in the field of procedure, Spanish Criminal Procedure Actin particular the provisions for the procedures for the abbreviated procedure set out in Title III of Book IV thereof.

Final provision two. Amendment of Organization of the Judiciary Act and the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office.

1. The Government shall, within six months of the publication of this Act in the "Official Gazette of the State", submit to Parliament a draft Organic Law on the reform of the Organic Law 6/1985 of 1 Julythe judiciary, for the establishment of the juvenile chambers of the High Courts of Justice and for the adjustment of the regulations and jurisdiction of the juvenile courts and the composition of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court to the provisions of this Act.

2. The Government shall, within six months of the publication of this Act in the "Official Gazette of the State", submit to Parliament a draft law on the reform of the Law 50/198 of 30 December 1981regulating the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office in order to bring the organization of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office into line with the provisions of this Act.

Final provision three. Staff reforms.

1. The Government, through the Ministry of Justice, after hearing the General Council of the Judiciary, the Attorney General's Office of the State and the Autonomous Communities concerned, shall, within six months of the publication of this Act in the Official Gazette of the State, take the necessary measures to adapt the juvenile courts' plant and the judicial and prosecutorial career staff to the organizational needs arising from the application of the provisions of this Law.

2. Juvenile judges must be appointed by magistrates from the judicial career. At the entry into force of this Act, the holders of a juvenile court holding the status of judge shall cease to hold such office, subject, where appropriate, to the situation provided for in article 118.2 and in accordance with that in force. Organization of the Judiciary Act, filling such places by ordinary competitive examination between judges.

3. The Government, through the Ministry of Justice, and the Autonomous Communities with competence in this area, through the corresponding Departments, shall adapt the staff of officials of the Administration of Justice to the needs of the Courts and Prosecutors ' Offices for the implementation of this Law. They shall also determine the number and staffing of the Technical Teams composed of civil servants or employees in the service of the Public Administrations, acting under the principles of independence, impartiality and professionalism.

4. In addition, the Government, through the Ministry of the Interior, and without prejudice to the powers of the Autonomous Communities, shall adapt the personnel of the Juvenile Groups of the Judicial Police Brigades, with a view to establishing the allocation of necessary officers to the Juvenile Sections of the Public Prosecutors ' Offices for the purposes proposed by this Act.

Paragraph 3 is amended by article 46 of Organic Law 8/2006 of 4 December. Ref. BOE-A-2006-21236.

Paragraph 5 is deleted by additional provision 4 of Organic Law 9/2000 of 22 December. Ref. BOE-A-2000-23661.

Final provision four. Specialization of judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

1. The General Council of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, within their respective competences, shall train members of the Judicial Service and Prosecutor ' s Office who are specialists in juvenile matters in accordance with the regulations. Such specialists shall have preference to hold the relevant positions in the Juvenile Chambers of the High Courts of Justice and in the Juvenile Courts and Prosecutors ' Offices, in accordance with the provisions of the laws and regulations.

2. In all the Offices of the Public Prosecutor, there will be a juvenile section composed of members of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office, specialists, with such administrative officers as may be required, as may be determined by regulations.

3. The General Council of the Bar shall take the necessary steps to ensure that approved courses for the training of lawyers wishing to acquire specialisation in the field of minors are provided in the schools where it is necessary to intervene with the organs of this Court.

Final provision five. Repeal clause.

1. They are repealed: the Organic Law regulating the jurisdiction and procedure of juvenile courts, a consolidated text approved by Decree of 11 June 1948, as amended by the Organic Law 4/1992 of 5 June 1992The remaining provisions of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Organic Law Governing the Jurisdiction and Procedure of Juvenile Courts, approved by Decree of 11 June 1948; transitional provision of Organic Law 10/1995 of 23 November 1995, of Spanish Criminal Codeand articles 8.2, 9.3, article 20, rule 1a, as regards article 8, paragraph 2, article 22, paragraph 2, and article 65 of the consolidated text of article 20, Spanish Criminal Codepublished by the Decree 3096/1973 of 14 Septemberaccording to the Law 44/1971 of 15 November.

2. All other rules of equal or lower rank are also repealed.

Final provision six. Nature of this Law.

Articles 16, 20, 21, 23 to 27, 30 to 35, 37 to 39, 41, 42 and 61 to 64, the third additional provision and the third final provision of this Organic Law have the nature of ordinary law.

Final provision seven. Entry into force and regulatory development.

1. This Organic Law shall enter into force the year of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State". On that date, the Articles 19 and 69 of Organic Law 10/1995 of 23 November 1995, of Spanish Criminal Code.

2. During the period referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Autonomous Communities with competence for the protection and reform of minors shall adapt their regulations for the proper performance of the functions conferred upon them by this Law.

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, private individuals and authorities to keep and enforce this Organic Law.

Madrid, 12 January 2000.

JUAN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSÉ MARÍA AZNAR LÓPEZ