Cassation technique · offices in Madrid and Alicante
Cassation has a nature of its own: it does not retry the case, it controls the legality of the judgment. The trial plea cannot be repeated: infringements of law, documentary errors of fact or violations of fundamental rights must be identified and formulated with the technique the Second Chamber demands.
In brief. A badly framed ground is inadmitted without examination of the merits; the preparation brief conditions the appeal itself; and the deadline to prepare is five working days from the last notification. Admission is the first battle, and every word counts.
The cassation appeal does not review the trial: it controls the legality of the judgment. The plea of the instance cannot be repeated: infringements of law (Article 849.1), documentary errors of fact (849.2) or violations of fundamental rights (Article 852) must be identified and formulated with the technique the Second Chamber demands. A badly framed ground is inadmitted without any examination of the merits, and the preparation brief conditions the appeal brief.
Every word counts because admission is the first battle. That is why cassation is, in our firm, a specialism in itself: we take on appeals against our own judgments and against judgments litigated by other counsel, with an honest viability assessment in hours.
| Stage | Deadline | What is decided | The key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viability assessment | Hours | Whether grounds exist | Honest evaluation before spending the client’s money |
| Preparation | 5 working days | The announcement delimits everything | A ground not announced cannot be developed |
| Filing | Per summons | Full technical development | The factum is respected or the ground dies |
| Admission | Chamber filter | The first battle | Most appeals end here |
| Opposition and hearing | Per procedure | The adversarial phase | Precision beats rhetoric |
| Judgment | Months | Inadmission, dismissal or upholding | A second judgment where upheld |
| Amparo | 30 days | The Constitutional Court route | Special constitutional relevance required |
| Review | 954 LECrim | Final judgments | New facts, evidence or Strasbourg |
Deadlines and routes are set out in general terms; each case demands verification of its own dates and procedural situation.
The Supreme Court reviews the assessment of evidence only through the presumption of innocence: a control of rationality, not a new weighing. It verifies that incriminating evidence exists, is valid and is rationally reasoned; framing the appeal as a disguised second appeal leads to inadmission. Our method is the opposite: identifying the specific legal infringement, formulating it with the Chamber’s technique and respecting the proven facts to the letter.
And honesty first: the statistical success rate is low in general but highly variable with the technique and the ground chosen. If there is a path, we build it rigorously; if there is not, we say so and explore amparo before the Constitutional Court, review under Article 954 or enforcement routes. The five-day clock makes that assessment a matter of hours.
Those convicted by Provincial Courts or the National Court: viability assessed within the five-day window.
Trial lawyers seeking cassation specialists: we take the appeal respecting the prior defence.
Accusations facing acquittals: the narrow but real routes against absolutory judgments.
Legal persons facing Article 33.7 penalties: cassation over the corporate conviction and its consequences.
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Société de Conseil Juridique et Expert is a law firm with offices in Madrid, Alicante, London and Paris, specialising in criminal law, technology law and economic and corporate crime. We provide strategic guidance in complex criminal proceedings, intellectual property and technological resources for legal decision-making with advanced forensic analysis. Our multidisciplinary team combines legal experience, legal intelligence and personal attention to deliver effective solutions adapted to each case. Legal assistance available 24 hours a day and online consultations.
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