Spanish Criminal Procedure Act by Article

An English-language guide to the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act, article by article, prepared by Société Juridique for foreign nationals involved in criminal proceedings in Spain. Each entry sets out a working translation of the provision as currently in force, its procedural effect and the requirements for its application and the defence arguments the firm advances in practice.

The English guide is complete and covers all 65 provisions available in Spanish. The complete Spanish repertory, which reproduces the authoritative text verbatim, is at Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal por artículos.

Jurisdiction and the parties

• Article 14. Jurisdiction of the criminal courts
• Article 109. Information to the victim of the right to appear as a party
• Article 110. Joining Proceedings as an Injured Party

The right to a defence and the status of the accused

• Article 118. Rights of the person under investigation
• Article 123. Interpretation and translation
• Article 302. Secrecy of the Investigation
• Article 416. Dispensation from the Duty to Testify
• Article 520. Rights of a person in police custody
• Article 527. Rights Restricted Under the Incommunicado Regime
• Article 775. First Appearance of the Accused and Address for Service

Commencement of proceedings

• Article 13. First steps in the investigation
• Article 262. Duty of Professionals to Report Offences
• Article 277. Requirements of the querella
• Article 384. Formal charging in the ordinary procedure
• Article 544 ter. Protection order for victims of domestic violence

Arrest and interim measures

• Article 490. Citizen’s Arrest
• Article 492. The Police Duty to Arrest
• Article 503. Requirements for pre-trial detention
• Article 505. The Custody Hearing on Pre-Trial Detention
• Article 509. Incommunicado Detention
• Article 520 bis. Detention and incommunicado detention in terrorism cases
• Article 544 bis. Interim Restraining and Exclusion Orders
• Article 589. Security for Pecuniary Liabilities and Attachment of Assets
• Article 764. Precautionary measures securing pecuniary liabilities

Investigative measures restricting fundamental rights

• Article 545. Inviolability of the Home
• Article 553. Entry and Search Without Judicial Authorisation
• Article 569. Formalities of a Search of Premises
• Article 579. Interception of Correspondence and Postal Communications
• Article 282 bis. Undercover agents
• Article 588 bis a. Guiding Principles of Technological Investigation Measures
• Article 588 ter a. Interception of Telephone and Internet Communications
• Article 588 quater a. Recording of direct oral communications
• Article 588 quinquies b. Tracking and location devices
• Article 588 sexies a. Seizure of Computers and Access to Their Contents
• Article 588 septies a. Remote search of computer devices
• Article 588 octies. Data Preservation Orders

Evidence

• Article 448. Preconstituted Evidence: Taking a Witness Statement Before Trial
• Article 449 ter. Pre constituted evidence of witnesses under fourteen
• Article 456. When Expert Evidence Must Be Ordered
• Article 730. Reading of Evidence Taken During the Investigation
• Article 741. Assessment of the Evidence and the Duty to Give Reasons

Conclusion of the investigation

• Article 324. Time limits on the investigation
• Article 636. Challenge to orders of dismissal and communication to victims
• Article 641. Provisional Discontinuance of Proceedings
• Article 779. Decisions Closing the Preliminary Investigation

Trial and agreed disposition

• Article 650. Content of the written indictment
• Article 655. Plea of guilty in the ordinary procedure
• Article 666. Preliminary objections
• Article 746. Grounds for suspending the trial hearing
• Article 786. Listing of the trial hearing in the abbreviated procedure
• Article 787. Attendance at Trial and Trial in Absentia
• Article 795. Scope of the rapid procedure
• Article 800. Fast-track: opening and pleadings
• Article 801. Immediate Sentence on a Guilty Plea before the Duty Court
• Article 804. Conciliation before a libel complaint
• Article 962. Immediate Trial of Minor Offences before the Duty Court
• Article 963. Minor offences: dismissal or trial

Appeals and enforcement

• Article 790. Appeal Against Judgment in the Abbreviated Procedure
• Article 792. Judgment on appeal in the abbreviated procedure
• Article 803 ter e. Object of the autonomous confiscation procedure
• Article 847. Decisions Open to Appeal in Cassation
• Article 849. Grounds of cassation for infringement of law
• Article 852. Cassation for Infringement of a Constitutional Provision
• Article 954. Review of final judgments
• Article 976. Appeals in minor-offence trials

Recently added entries

Articles added to the repertory after its arrangement; they will be placed under their corresponding stage in the next revision.

• Article 714 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: reading out a contradictory pre-trial s
• Article 780 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: service for the indictment and suppleme
• Article 783 Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: opening of the trial
• Article 788 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: taking of evidence and final submission
• Article 791 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: hearing and evidence on criminal appeal
• Article 793 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: application to set aside a conviction i
• Article 803 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: appeal against judgments in fast-track
• Article 967 Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: summonses in minor-offence trials
• Article 988 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: aggregation of sentences and maximum te