24-hour criminal defence in Altea, Alicante. Cases are heard in the Benidorm judicial district. We attend arrests, summonses and fast-track trials, with immediate attendance at the police station. Emergency line open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Established foreign residence, a marina economy and protected land: a town where planning, property and corporate offences coexist with strong demand for defence in several languages.
24-hour arrest attendance, defence throughout investigation and trial, and service in six languages. Benidorm judicial district.
Criminal proceedings arising from events in Altea are heard in the Benidorm judicial district, where the Court of First Instance and Instruction and its criminal divisions are seated.
Following Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on measures for the efficiency of the Public Justice Service, the former investigating courts have been integrated into the Tribunal de Instancia as an Investigation Division, and the former justice-of-the-peace courts are now Municipal Justice Offices.
The judicial district determines the competent court and, with it, the real timetable of the defence. Altea belongs to the Benidorm judicial district, in the Marina Baja county. An arrest carried out by the Local Police, the National Police or the Guardia Civil within the municipal boundary of Altea leads to the detainee being brought before the Investigation Division of the Tribunal de Instancia in Benidorm.
This has practical consequences. The transfer of the detainee, the scheduling of the statement and any fast-track trial under Articles 795 et seq. of the Criminal Procedure Act take place in the district head town, not in Altea. Knowing the Benidorm duty roster in advance makes it possible to anticipate whether the matter will be resolved during the duty shift or converted into preliminary proceedings.
Article 17.2 of the Spanish Constitution provides that preventive detention may last no longer than strictly necessary to carry out the enquiries needed to clarify the facts and that, in any event, within a maximum of seventy-two hours the detainee must be released or brought before the judicial authority.
Article 520 of the Criminal Procedure Act grants the detainee, among others, the right to be informed in writing of the facts attributed to them, the right to remain silent, the right to appoint a lawyer of their choice and to hold a confidential interview with that lawyer before making any statement, the right to an interpreter, the right to be examined by a forensic physician and the right to notify a relative of the deprivation of liberty.
The confidential interview under Article 520(6) is the single most productive moment for the defence. That is when the decision is taken whether to give a statement, remain silent or advance an account of events, and that is when irregularities capable of grounding a habeas corpus application under Organic Law 6/1984 are identified.
Our duty service answers calls from Altea twenty-four hours a day. Action begins with immediate contact with the station holding the detainee and continues with the lawyer attending in person before any statement is taken.
First, do not give a statement without having held the confidential interview. Second, do not sign any document whose content you do not understand, including the record of rights if it is incomplete. Third, expressly request examination by the forensic physician where there are injuries or where alcohol or other substances have been consumed. Fourth, immediately pass the police report number and the investigating station to the appointed lawyer.
Chain of custody, the correctness of the record of rights and the exact time of arrest are matters that condition the validity of everything that follows. Reviewing them early is what separates a reactive defence from a planned one.
The economic profile of Altea and its position within the Benidorm judicial district shape the matters that actually arise.
Works and buildings that cannot be authorised on rural or specially protected land. Demolition may be ordered as a civil consequence of the offence.
Discharges, emissions and works affecting the coastline or watercourses. Expert evidence and the environmental authority’s reports drive the case. Discharges and works affecting the Altea coastline and watercourses.
Applies where the amount defrauded, the nature of the goods affected or the abuse of a pre-existing personal relationship aggravates the offence. Double sales and undisclosed encumbrances, frequently affecting non-resident buyers.
Transactions involving property or vessels where the origin of funds is not evidenced. Proof of lawful origin must be prepared before the first statement. Transactions involving property and vessels along the Marina Baja coast.
Identification through forensic traces and the chain of custody of biological samples are decisive at trial. Second homes and berths during low-occupancy periods.
A reading of 0.60 milligrams per litre of exhaled air triggers the offence objectively, without any need to prove impaired driving. The coastal N-332 between Altea, Calpe and Benidorm concentrates checks, particularly in high season.
At the relevant National Police or Guardia Civil station, and you will be brought before the Investigation Division of the Tribunal de Instancia in Benidorm, the head town of the judicial district to which Altea belongs.
Article 17.2 of the Spanish Constitution sets a maximum of seventy-two hours. Detention must end as soon as the grounds justifying it cease, so the constitutional period is an outer limit rather than a term the authorities may routinely exhaust.
Yes. Article 520(6)(d) of the Criminal Procedure Act grants the right to a confidential interview with your lawyer even before a statement is taken by the police or by the judicial authority.
The right to remain silent and not to incriminate oneself is recognised in Article 24.2 of the Constitution and Article 520(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Exercising it cannot be treated as evidence of guilt.
Yes. The duty service operates twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, including weekends and public holidays, with attendance at whichever police station is holding the detainee.
It can, where the requirements of Articles 795 et seq. of the Criminal Procedure Act are met. In that event, a guilty plea carrying a one-third sentence reduction is negotiated during the duty shift itself, which requires the lawyer to have the police report sufficiently in advance.
It is the procedure under Organic Law 6/1984 that allows anyone who considers themselves unlawfully detained to be brought before a judge immediately, for instance where the statutory period has been exceeded or where they have not been informed of their rights.
Yes. The firm works in Spanish, English, French, Russian, Italian and German, both at the arrest stage and throughout the subsequent proceedings.
Yes. Article 520(2)(h) of the Criminal Procedure Act grants the right to a free interpreter. Independently of that, the firm provides direct assistance in English, French, Russian, Italian and German, which avoids the loss of nuance that translation introduces.
Yes. Altea forms part of the Benidorm judicial district together with Benidorm, l’Alfàs del Pi and Finestrat.
If you or a relative has been arrested or summoned in Altea, time works against you. Contact the duty line and you will receive an initial assessment of the case and a plan of action for the hours ahead.
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