The minor offence trial

Minor offences: the catalogue

Since the 2015 reform, minor offences include, among others: theft of up to €400 (Art. 234.2), minor threats and coercion (Arts. 171.7 and 172.3), minor insults and unjust humiliation within the scope of Art. 173.4, fraud of up to €400 and criminal damage of up to €400. Penalties of a fine or home detention and a criminal record that is expunged after 6 months. Beware of Organic Law 1/2026 on repeat offending: in minor theft and fraud, if the offender has accumulated at least three final convictions of the same nature (under the same Title for theft, the same Chapter for fraud) and at least one of them is minor, the penalty is no longer the fine for the minor offence but that of the basic offence (6 to 18 months’ imprisonment for theft): the repeated minor offence is no longer “minor” in its consequences, and its limitation period rises from 1 to 5 years.

In practice: Since Organic Law 1/2026, the first question in any minor theft or fraud is the criminal record: with three convictions of the same nature (one of them minor), the matter is no longer “a fine” but 6 to 18 months’ imprisonment with an ordinary trial. Practical jurisdiction, strategy and advice all change: what yesterday was settled by a plea to a fine today requires a full defence.

Art. 962 LECrim · Immediate police summons

In cases of bodily harm, flagrant theft, minor threats or coercion, the police summon the accused, victims and witnesses directly before the duty court, with formal warnings: the trial may be held immediately. Receiving the summons at the police station means the trial is serious and will take place within days.

In practice: The direct police summons includes warnings that are enforced: attending unprepared because “it is a trivial matter” hands out convictions. We review the summons: defects in the warning or in the identification of the facts support adjournments and annulments of lightning trials.

Art. 963 LECrim · Dismissal on grounds of expediency

The judge may dismiss the case, at the request of the prosecutor, when the minor offence is of very little seriousness and there is no relevant public interest in prosecution: the principle of expediency. Invoking it properly avoids entire trials over minimal incidents.

In practice: Dismissal on grounds of expediency requires a request from the prosecutor, but nothing prevents us from suggesting it with reasons: little seriousness, reparation already made, conflict resolved. In minor neighbourhood and family incidents we frequently obtain it: an early dismissal is better than a late acquittal.

Arts. 965 to 967 LECrim · Scheduling and summonses

If an immediate hearing is not possible, the trial is scheduled within the following 7 days where feasible; the summonses inform of rights, of the need to appear with evidence and of the possibility of attending with a lawyer. The trial is held even if the accused does not attend, provided they were duly summoned: absence is not a strategy, it is a lack of defence.

In practice: The summons must inform of the right to submit evidence: arrive with it or request an adjournment to bring it if the summons was defective. Legal assistance, although not mandatory, allows methodical questioning: in 15-minute trials, every question counts double.

Art. 969 LECrim · The hearing

The complainant, the accused and the witnesses are heard, the evidence is taken and oral closing submissions are made. The prosecutor does not always attend in offences prosecutable only on the victim’s complaint (their absence does not suspend the hearing): the burden of prosecuting then falls on the complainant, and without a formal accusation at the hearing there can be no conviction: a technical detail that wins acquittals.

In practice: Without a prosecutor, the accusation falls on the complainant: if they do not formulate an express accusation (facts + request for conviction) at the hearing, an acquittal for lack of accusation follows. We watch that moment like hawks: it wins entire trials on pure technique.

Arts. 973 and 976 LECrim · Judgment and appeal

The judgment may be delivered on the spot; it may be appealed within 5 days, processed like an appeal in the abbreviated procedure and decided by the Provincial Court. Reviewing the facts with the recording of the hearing is more feasible than people think: minor offence hearings are poorly prepared… by the other side.

In practice: The 5-day appeal relies on the recording: in fast hearings, errors of assessment are gross and visible. It is worth appealing more often than is done: the Provincial Court readily overturns minor convictions when the evidence was a poorly reasoned “word against word”.