New Criminal Code Comes Into Force

On Wednesday the 1st of July, the newly revised penal code comes into force in Spain, replacing the text from the 1995 version, and implementing a number of key changes.

The laws are aimed at both protecting the more vulnerable, and also allowing criminals who have paid the price for their crimes to be rehabilitated back into society without the long term burden of the offence.

Although the laws are vast and detailed, we have included some of the highlights of the key areas most likely to affect the majority of people in the country.

In order to protect the vulnerability of minors, the age of sexual consent has been raised to 16, making sexual relations with a person under 16 a criminal offence, except in the case of consensual relationships with a person close to the age of the child, determined by development and maturity.

There is now an increase in the penalty for prostituting or grooming minors under 16 years of age, especially making note how technological advances which were otherwise void in the protection of minors, and now also covering telephones and threats as well as coercion. Harassment and stalking are also detailed within the code, irrespective of age.

Posting intimate videos on the internet without the express permission of those involved can result in a prison sentence of between three months and a year.

Forced marriage can also now result in up to three years in prison, a move demanded by the European Union to try to crackdown on illegal people trafficking throughout the continent.

Animal abuse is now more punishable by the criminal code with the abandonment of animals now a criminal offence, whereas the sexual exploitation of animals or their abuse in activities such as fighting, is criminal for the first time.

Anybody convicted of crimes relating to terrorism will now be banned from becoming teachers. The text includes those involved in ETA.

Causing humiliation or distress to the families or victims of terrorist attacks is also punishable, which includes posting offensive messages on social network sites.

The fines for having committed theft or robbery have increased, as has the inclusion of such activities as the theft of copper wire or power supply cables.

European citizens may now be ejected from Spain if they are believed to pose a “serious threat to public safety”. This right had been the reserve for those from outside of Europe, but by including the native continent also allows for greater expulsion rights for a range of criminal activities.

It is now a criminal offence for illegally financing political parties, with Spaniard who accept of deliver in excess of 500,000 euro facing prison, as well as foreigners who do the same in excess of 100,000 euro.

The government will send a list of requests for granting pardons to the Justice Ministry on a six monthly basis. Convicted criminals will now be able to request that their criminal records be wiped clean, in the event of having served their punishment and satisfied a minimum time without reoffending.