Criminal defence and prosecution throughout Spain · Author: Francisco Javier Martín Porras, criminal lawyer and court expert · SCJE team
Closing the title on falsehoods, the Code punishes personal falsehoods: usurping another person’s civil status (living as if you were them) and professional intrusion (performing acts reserved to a profession without the legally required qualification). False lawyers, false doctors, clinics with unqualified “professionals”, complete identity takeovers: growing cases that we both defend and prosecute.
In brief. In brief. Usurpation of civil status: prison of 6 months to 3 years (art. 401). Professional intrusion: fine of 12 to 24 months; prison of 6 months to 2 years if the offender also publicly claims professional status (art. 403). The victim of the usurpation suffers debts, criminal records and contracts that are not theirs. Frequent joinder with fraud, documentary falsehood and injuries (malpractice).
Article 401 punishes usurping another person’s civil status with prison of 6 months to 3 years: not the occasional use of someone else’s name, but fully assuming the identity of another real person in order to exercise their rights and actions (collecting, contracting, litigating as the other). Partial or occasional impersonation is redirected to fraud, falsehoods or the offence of art. 402. Article 403 punishes professional intrusion: performing acts reserved to a profession without the required academic qualification, with aggravated prison if the offender publicly claims the professional status or runs premises simulating a professional establishment.
We act on both sides: defending persons accused of intrusion (the core of the debate is which acts are legally reserved to the profession, and the error about one’s authorisation can exclude intent), and prosecuting for victims of complete identity takeovers, with digital-trace investigation, cancellation of wrongly attributed records and full civil recovery.
| Conduct | Article | Content | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usurpation of civil status | Art. 401 CP | Fully living as another real person, exercising their rights | 6 months to 3 years of prison |
| Exercise of public functions | Art. 402 CP | Acting as authority or official claiming official character | 1 to 3 years of prison |
| Uniforms and insignia | Art. 402 bis CP | Public improper use attributing official character | Fine of 1 to 3 months |
| Intrusion (academic title) | Art. 403.1 CP | Reserved professional acts without the academic qualification | Fine of 12 to 24 months |
| Intrusion (official title) | Art. 403.1 CP | Activity requiring an official non-academic qualification | Fine of 6 to 12 months |
| Aggravated intrusion | Art. 403.2 CP | Public professional claim or simulated establishment | 6 months to 2 years of prison |
| Malpractice injuries | Arts. 147 et seq. CP | Harm caused by the unqualified “treatment” | Joined offence; adds penalty and civil liability |
| Fraud and falsehoods | Arts. 248 and 390 et seq. CP | Charging as a professional; false degrees and prescriptions | Joined offences with their own frameworks |
Summary drawn from the Spanish source page for orientation purposes. The applicable provisions are those of the Criminal Code in force at the relevant time; each case requires individual analysis by a criminal lawyer.
Original commentary by the firm on articles 401 to 403 CP. In defence, the reserved-acts debate and the error about authorisation decide the case; in prosecution, the chain of contracts, invoices and communications makes the complete conduct traceable and recoverable.
Denounce for intrusion (aggravated if there were premises and advertising), fraud for the fees and full damages, including the procedural harm to your case, which may be reopened for lack of defence depending on the circumstances.
Practising while the recognition is pending can objectively fit the offence, but the reasonable error about authorisation excludes intent: keep the complete recognition file.
Usurpation of civil status (art. 401) plus the frauds and falsehoods committed with your identity: querella, cancellation of wrong records and full civil recovery, on three parallel fronts.
The intrusion joins with malpractice injuries and fraud: the sum of qualifications multiplies the recoverable civil liability against the false professional and, where applicable, the establishment.
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