Practice area 02
Defence of the person under investigation or charged, defence of young people before the Juvenile Court, and private prosecution for those who have suffered an offence. From the first interview through to trial and appeal.
In criminal proceedings, what is said at the beginning carries through to the end. A statement given without knowing what the file contains, in the sincere belief that explaining things will clear them up, is where the most viable defences get damaged. That statement joins the file, is read out at trial, and cannot be taken back.
So the right order is always the same: read the file first, then decide what to say. Which is why the time to call is when the summons arrives, not the day before the hearing.
If you have been summoned, or someone has been detained, the time to call is now: +34 681 27 03 40.
What this covers
01
Representation throughout: investigation, defence pleading, trial and appeal. The file is read before any statement is given, evidence is proposed, and a negotiated outcome is pursued where that genuinely serves you best.
02
For those who suffered the offence: your own role in the proceedings rather than leaving it to the public prosecutor. Complaint or formal querella, evidence proposed during the investigation, and the civil compensation arising from the offence.
03
Drink-driving and driving under the influence of drugs, driving without a licence or after losing it on points, refusing to be tested, excessive speed, and offences causing injury.
04
Theft, robbery, misappropriation, fraud and criminal damage — in defence and in private prosecution, with particular attention to how loss is valued and to civil liability.
05
Assault, threats, coercion and insult, along with the minor offences dealt with at immediate hearings before the investigating court. Cases that look small but whose conviction has real consequences.
06
Where criminal and administrative law meet: misfeasance, disobedience, and the liability of public officeholders and company directors.
07
When the person reported or arrested is aged 14 to 17, the adult criminal procedure does not apply. Spain's Juvenile Criminal Responsibility Act (Organic Law 5/2000) does: the juvenile prosecutor investigates, the Juvenile Court decides, and instead of sentences the court imposes measures such as supervised liberty, community service, socio-educational tasks or detention in a centre. I assist the young person from the first interview, alongside the parents, and pursue conciliation and reparation with the victim, which can close the case before any hearing. Also private prosecution where the victim is a minor or the offender is one.
On the scope of the work. This practice does not take on every kind of criminal case. If yours falls outside the fields I work in, or calls for a different specialism, I will say so at the first consultation and point you towards the right person. That is more useful than accepting the instruction and learning on the way.
The investigating court establishes what happened and who may have been involved. Statements, reports and evidence are taken. This is the stage where the final outcome can most be influenced — and the one most often faced without a lawyer.
The prosecutor — and the private prosecutor, if there is one — sets out the facts, the legal characterisation and the sentence sought. The defence answers with its own account and its own evidence. This is where the scope of the trial is fixed.
Evidence is taken before the court that will give judgment: statements, witnesses, experts and reports. This is where earlier preparation shows, or is missed.
An appeal lies against the judgment and, depending on the case, cassation. Whether an appeal has reasonable grounds is assessed honestly, and I will tell you before you decide to spend on it.
Presumption of innocence. Being under investigation is not being convicted. Everyone is entitled to be defended by a lawyer of their own choosing, and that entitlement does not depend on the allegation or on anyone else's opinion of it.
FAQ
These answers are general: every case turns on its own documents.
Bring a lawyer, and from the first interview. It is the most expensive mistake made in criminal matters: attending alone to explain yourself “because I have done nothing wrong”. That statement stays in the file, is read out at trial, and shapes everything that follows. Before speaking you need to know what the file contains — and for that you need a lawyer.
Yes. A person under investigation has the right not to incriminate themselves, not to confess guilt and to remain silent, and that silence cannot be treated as an admission. Whether it is wise to give a statement is a strategic decision taken after seeing the file, never before.
If you are the person who suffered the offence, you can take part in the proceedings as a private prosecutor rather than leaving everything to the public prosecutor. That lets you propose evidence, participate in the investigation, maintain your own characterisation of the facts, and claim the compensation due to you — on your own judgement rather than someone else's.
Spanish. This site is translated into English so that you can read it, but the consultation, the correspondence and the proceedings are in Spanish. If you do not speak Spanish comfortably, bring someone who can interpret for you to the appointment. In court a sworn interpreter is appointed where the law requires one.
If they are 14 to 17, the case goes through the youth justice system under Organic Law 5/2000, not the adult courts. After an arrest the police have at most 24 hours to bring them before the juvenile prosecutor, and they cannot be interviewed without a lawyer and, save exceptions, without their parents present. The system aims to educate rather than punish, and conciliation or reparation with the victim can close the case. Under 14 there is no criminal liability. Note that parents are jointly liable for the damage caused by their child, so the defence matters to the family's finances too.
It varies enormously. A minor-offence trial can be over in months; a complex investigation is measured in years. I will give you a realistic estimate with the file in front of me, rather than a reassuring figure that then fails to hold.