Article 449 ter Spanish Criminal Procedure Act: Pre constituted evidence of witnesses under fourteen

Where a person under fourteen years of age or a person with a disability in need of special protection is to take part as a witness in judicial proceedings the object of which is the investigation of an offence of homicide, of injury, against liberty, against moral integrity, of trafficking in human beings, against sexual freedom and integrity, against privacy, against family relations, relating to the exercise of fundamental rights and public freedoms, of criminal and terrorist organisations and groups or of terrorism, the judicial authority shall in all cases order the hearing of the minor to be taken as pre constituted evidence, with all the guarantees of the taking of evidence at the trial hearing and in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article. That process shall be carried out with all the guarantees of accessibility and with the necessary supports.

The judicial authority may order that the hearing of the person under fourteen years of age be conducted through psychosocial teams which shall support the court on an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional basis, gathering the work of the professionals who have previously intervened and studying the personal, family and social circumstances of the minor or of the person with a disability, in order to improve their treatment and the yield of the evidence. In that case, the parties shall transmit to the judicial authority the questions which they consider appropriate, and the judicial authority, after reviewing their relevance and usefulness, shall provide them to the experts. Once the hearing of the minor has been conducted, the parties may seek clarifications from the witness on the same terms. The statement shall always be recorded and the judge may, after hearing the parties, require from the expert a report accounting for the conduct and the outcome of the hearing of the minor.

Where the person under investigation is present at the hearing of the minor, visual confrontation with the witness shall be avoided, using for that purpose, if necessary, any technical means.

The measures provided for in this article may be applicable where the offence is classified as a minor one.

Working translation prepared by Société Juridique from the consolidated Spanish text published by the Official State Gazette. It has no official status: the only authoritative version is the Spanish original, available at the Official State Gazette and reproduced verbatim in our Spanish-language entry for this provision. Source: Royal Decree of 14 September 1882 approving the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act.