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SCJE · Legal resources
Guide to the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act (LECrim), with commentary
If the Guide to the Spanish Criminal Code explains the offences and their penalties, this guide explains the road: what happens from the arrest to the last appeal, what rights each party holds and where cases are won and lost. Every entry comments the articles of the LECrim with their real application, checked against the reference work in our library (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal Comentada, Lefebvre-El Derecho, 13th ed., 2026).
For emergencies, 24-hour assistance to detainees throughout the province of Alicante and in Madrid: 669 30 21 13.
The investigated person and their rights
- Rights of the person under investigation (art. 118)
- Your rights if arrested in Spain
- Detention, time limits and habeas corpus (arts. 489-520)
- Provisional release, bail and precautionary measures (arts. 528-544)
- The protection order (art. 544 ter)
- Denuncia and querella: starting proceedings (arts. 259-281)
- Private prosecution: the victim’s rights
- Identification parades (arts. 368-384)
- Witnesses and the dispensation of art. 416
The investigation: searches, technology and evidence
- Entry and search of the home (arts. 545-578)
- Technological investigation measures (art. 588)
- Expert reports in criminal proceedings (arts. 456-485)
- Dismissal: closing a case before trial (arts. 634-645)
- Statute of limitations of criminal liability
- Rebeldía, arrest warrants and trial in absentia
The procedures and the trial
- The abbreviated procedure step by step (arts. 757-793)
- The ordinary sumario for serious offences
- Fast-track trials (arts. 795-803)
- The jury court (LO 5/1995)
- Minor offences and their trials
- Plea agreements: the conformidad after LO 1/2025
- The acceptance-of-decree procedure (arts. 803 bis)
- Insults and slander: querella and conciliation
Appeals, enforcement and penalties
- Criminal appeals: reform, appeal, cassation and review
- Cassation before the Supreme Court
- The constitutional amparo appeal
- Enforcement of criminal judgments (arts. 983-998)
- Suspension of prison sentences
- Types of penalties in the Criminal Code (arts. 32-60)
- Security measures: confinement and supervised release
- Civil liability from crime and confiscation
- Guide to the Spanish Criminal Code
Original commentary by SCJE criminal lawyers. These guides are informative drafts pending review by a qualified Spanish lawyer and do not replace individual legal advice.
Procedural guarantees and evidence: guides in the procedural series
Guides on the principles and guarantees governing evidence and trial in Spain, with the applicable case law and the defence approach.
- The double conforme rule and the ban on conviction on appeal in Spain
- Asset-freezing measures in Spanish criminal proceedings
- The non bis in idem principle in Spanish criminal proceedings
- Interception of communications in Spanish criminal proceedings
- The protected witness in Spanish criminal proceedings
- Costs orders in Spanish criminal proceedings
- The accusatorial principle and the correlation between charge and judgment in Spain
- The presumption of innocence and in dubio pro reo in Spain
- Unlawfully obtained evidence and the connection of unlawfulness in Spain
- The police report and its evidential value in Spanish criminal proceedings
- The victim’s testimony as the sole incriminating evidence in Spain
- Chain of custody of evidence in Spanish criminal proceedings
- Undue delay as a mitigating circumstance: article 21.6 of the Spanish Criminal Code
- Circumstantial evidence in Spanish criminal proceedings: requirements and review
Frequently asked questions
What does the Guide to the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act cover?
The road of the criminal process from the arrest to the last appeal: the rights of the person under investigation, detention and habeas corpus, provisional release and precautionary measures, the protection order, denuncia and querella, searches and technological investigation measures, expert evidence, dismissal, the abbreviated procedure, fast-track trials, the jury court, plea agreements, appeals, enforcement and penalties.
Are the entries checked against a reference work?
Yes. Every entry comments the articles of the LECrim with their real application, checked against the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal Comentada (Lefebvre-El Derecho, 13th edition, 2026).
Do these guides constitute legal advice?
No. They are informative drafts by SCJE criminal lawyers pending review by a qualified Spanish lawyer and do not replace individual legal advice. For emergencies, 24-hour assistance to detainees is available on 669 30 21 13.
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