Offences against the personEnglish-speaking assault lawyer in Spain

The charge depends on the medical report

Spanish law grades assault by the injury caused and the means used: a minor offence (delito leve), injuries requiring medical treatment, or aggravated injuries where a weapon or dangerous object was used. The sentencing gap between them is enormous, and it turns on the parte de lesiones, the medical report.

We have that report examined as a matter of course. The distinction between simple first aid and subsequent medical treatment is frequently arguable, and it can move a case out of the prison bracket altogether.

Domestic violence is a separate track

These cases go to specialised courts and move fast. A protection order with immediate removal from the home can be issued within hours, often before you have properly told your side. The first statement, made without advice, follows the case to trial.

We act for the accused and for victims wishing to join as private prosecutors.

Our approach

Attendance from the police station, challenge to the medical report, self-defence and provocation where they apply, and negotiation where it serves you. See also criminal defence in Alicante.

The medical report decides the sentence

Everything turns on a technical distinction. If the injuries required only first aid, the offence is minor and the penalty is a fine. If they required subsequent medical or surgical treatment, it becomes the offence of causing injury, and prison enters the picture.

That line is far more arguable than it looks. Stitches, immobilisation or a course of medication are routinely presented as treatment when the case law does not always classify them that way. Having the parte de lesiones reviewed by an independent forensic doctor is often what moves a case out of the custodial bracket altogether.

Domestic violence: a separate and faster track

These cases go to specialised courts and move at speed. A protection order removing you from the family home and prohibiting all contact can be issued within hours, often before you have properly given your account.

Two mistakes recur and both are expensive. The first is giving a statement immediately, without advice, on the assumption that the truth will speak for itself. The second is contacting the complainant despite the order, which is a fresh offence in its own right, independent of the underlying case, and which destroys your credibility at trial.

We act both for the accused and for victims who wish to join the proceedings as private prosecutors.

Self-defence, provocation and who started it

Self-defence requires an unlawful attack, a rationally necessary response, and no sufficient provocation on your part. It is rarely accepted in full, but partial acceptance reduces the sentence significantly.

In a fight outside a bar, the central question is always who began it and whether the response was proportionate. CCTV and immediate witnesses decide that question, and they need to be secured before they are lost, which is a matter of days, not weeks.