Serious crime defenceEnglish-speaking homicide defence lawyer in Spain

Homicide and murder under Spanish law

Homicide (article 138 of the Criminal Code) carries ten to fifteen years in prison. Murder (article 139), where the killing involves treachery, cruelty or is committed for reward or to cover another crime, carries fifteen to twenty-five years, and in exceptional cases the reviewable permanent prison term. Attempted forms, reckless homicide (article 142) and involvement short of authorship all carry substantially different penalties.

Between those categories lie most real cases: fights that ended badly, traffic and workplace deaths, self-defence, mental health crises. The legal classification, homicide or murder, intentional or reckless, completed or attempted, is where the defence is decided, because it moves the penalty by decades.

Where the case is actually decided

• Intent (dolo) versus recklessness. Whether the accused sought the result or accepted its risk is the central battle, fought on forensic and circumstantial evidence.
• The qualifying factors of murder. Treachery (alevosía) is argued in almost every case and disputed in almost every case.
• Self-defence and its limits. Proportionality decides; the forensics of the scene matter more than the narrative.
• Forensic evidence. Autopsy, DNA, telephony and scene reconstruction: each expert report can and should be tested by defence experts.
• The jury. Homicide of this kind is tried before a jury (Tribunal del Jurado), which changes strategy, language and tempo entirely.

The first 72 hours

Police detention in Spain lasts up to 72 hours before court presentation. What is said, and not said, at the police station shapes the entire case. No statement should be given without your own lawyer present, and the right to an interpreter is absolute. We attend detentions at any hour.

See also: assault and violent offences, prison and pre-trial detention and extradition and European arrest warrants.

Frequently asked questions

A relative has been detained in Spain in connection with a death. What do we do first? Secure specialised counsel before any statement. The duty lawyer system works, but a case of this gravity needs a defence built from hour one, including our own forensic experts.

We are the family of a victim. Can we participate in the case? Yes. Spanish law allows the family to act as private prosecution (acusación particular), with full access to the file, the right to propose evidence and to appeal. We represent foreign families in English and French.

Will there be pre-trial detention? In homicide cases it is common but not automatic. Flight risk, evidence tampering and the gravity of the facts are weighed; alternatives exist and should be argued properly at the first hearing.

How long does a homicide case take in Spain? Investigation typically takes one to two years, followed by the jury trial. Appeals can extend it further. We keep clients and families informed at every procedural step, in their language.

Why Société Juridique (SCJE)

Serious-crime defence with in-house forensic and digital-evidence capability, experience before the Tribunal del Jurado, and full case handling in English and French. Offices in Alicante and Madrid.

Urgent assistance 24/7: +34 669 30 21 13.