Criminal Law can be daunting in your own mother tongue,
But even more so in a ‘foreign tongue’ therefore if you find yourself involved in a dispute it is imperative to obtain good legal advice that you can understand. Under the Spanish criminal judicial system, a person who is charged with any offence has to stand trial. This means an appearance in court before a judge and in certain instances before a jury. If the accused is found guilty, the presiding judge will pass sentence that reflects the gravity of the crime. Punishments range from life imprisonment, imposition of fines, deprivation of rights, and a host of other measures. Judicial Power in Spain is regulated and according to arts 117.1 and art 1.LOPJ justice is administered only by judges and magistrates – the exercise of judicial authority in any type of action is vested exclusively in courts and tribunals as laid down by the law. For jurisdictional purposes Spain and Territories of Spain are divided into:
Added to that the complexity of the Spanish Judicial system -
- Municipos (Municipalities)
- Where there is no Juzgados de Primera Instancia e Instruccion (First instance and Examination Court), there are Juzgados de Paz (Justice of the Peace) whose status, function and limitation is defines at art. 99 et seq.. LOPJ
- Partidos Judiciales (Judicial Districts)
- Juzgados de Primera Instancia e Instruccion (First instance and Examination Court),
- Juzgados de lo Penal (Criminal Courts)
- Juzgados de lo Contenciosa-administrativo ( Judicial review of administrative acts)
- Juzgados de lo Social (Employment Courts)
- Juzgados de Menores (Juvenile Courts)
- Juzgados de Vigilancia penitenciaria (Prison Security Courts)
- Provincias (Provinces)
- Provinces eash have a Provincial Court
- Comunidades Autonomas ( Autonomous Communities)
- Autonomous Communities each have a High Court of Justice
- Spain incl. Spanish Territory
- Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court – Court of Last Resort)
- Audencia Nacional (National Court – Court of Appeal)
Those territorial districts have a variety of courts and tribunals that are organised to deal with subject matter in four distinct categories
- Civil Courts for civil or commercial issues
- Criminal Courts for alleged violations of the criminal code
- Social Courts for employment and social security issues
- Administrative Courts – deals with claims based on alleged acts carried out by a public administration.
With a myriad of legal collectives it is imperative to obtain sound legal advice -contact DMG Law Office - info@solicitorsinspain.ie