This group of offences protects a person’s most basic rights: life, physical integrity and the freedom to act without violence or fear. If you have been assaulted in a fight, received blows or injuries, been threatened with harm to yourself or your family, or forced to do something against your will under intimidation, you are likely facing one of these situations. We also take on the defence when it is our client who is under investigation or accused of these acts.

• Homicide (Art. 138 CP): causing the death of another person.
• Murder (Art. 139 CP): homicide committed with aggravating circumstances, such as treachery or cruelty.
• Injuries (Arts. 147 to 156 CP): blows, wounds or harm to physical integrity, ranging from minor to serious.
• Threats (Arts. 169 to 171 CP): announcing future harm to the victim or someone close to them.
• Coercion (Art. 172 CP): using violence to prevent someone from doing something the law does not prohibit, or forcing them to do something against their will.

This covers situations where someone violates your private life or reputation: someone has entered your home without permission, you’ve been filmed or photographed without consent and the material has been shared, someone has posted false messages about you on social media or spread rumours that damage your reputation, or your email, phone or personal accounts have been accessed without authorisation.

• Trespass / violation of the home (Arts. 202 to 204 CP): entering or remaining in someone else’s home against the resident’s will.
• Discovery and disclosure of secrets (Arts. 197 to 201 CP): accessing, intercepting or disclosing private data, messages or images without consent.
• Slander (Art. 205 CP): falsely accusing someone of committing a crime.
• Insults / defamation (Arts. 208 and 209 CP): expressions or actions that harm a person’s dignity and damage their reputation or self-esteem.

This area covers situations linked to business, tax or financial activity: a company deliberately stops paying its employees’ social security contributions, someone hides income from the tax authorities to avoid paying what they owe, or money of dubious origin moves through accounts, shell companies or front businesses. We advise both business owners or directors under investigation and clients who have been harmed by this kind of conduct.

• Social security fraud (Arts. 307 et seq. CP): fraudulent non-payment of contributions or wrongful obtaining of benefits.
• Offences against the Public Treasury (Arts. 305 et seq. CP): tax fraud above the thresholds set by law.
• Money laundering (Arts. 298 to 304 CP): acquiring, converting or transferring assets knowing they come from criminal activity.

One of the areas with the most enquiries: your wallet or phone has been stolen on the street, someone broke into your home and took valuables, you were deceived in a sale and didn’t receive what was promised, a manager, partner or trusted person has kept money or assets that weren’t theirs, or you were forced to hand over money under threat.

• Theft (Arts. 234 to 236 CP): taking someone else’s property without violence or intimidation.
• Robbery (Art. 242 CP): taking someone else’s property using force against objects or violence/intimidation against people.
• Misappropriation (Art. 253 CP): unlawfully keeping money or assets received for a specific purpose (deposit, management, etc.).
• Fraud (Arts. 248 et seq. CP): deceiving someone into an act of financial disposal to their own or a third party’s detriment.
• Extortion (Art. 243 CP): forcing someone, through violence or intimidation, to perform or omit an act for financial gain.

One of the highest-volume areas: you’ve tested positive on a breathalyser, you’ve been reported for speeding above the legal limit, you’re driving with a suspended licence or without ever having obtained one, you’ve had a traffic accident and are being investigated for reckless driving, or you refused a breathalyser test without knowing the consequences. In many of these cases, a good defence from the very first moment can prevent losing your licence or even a prison sentence.

• Driving under the influence (Art. 379.2 CP): driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit.
• Punishable speeding (Art. 379.1 CP): exceeding speed limits by amounts classed as a criminal offence.
• Refusal to take a breathalyser test (Art. 383 CP).
• Driving without a licence (Art. 384 CP): driving with an expired, withdrawn or never-obtained licence.
• Reckless driving (Art. 380 CP): driving in a way that creates a specific danger to life or physical safety.
• Traffic accidents: advice and defence when an accident leads to criminal liability.

If you’ve been found with drugs on you, in your car or at home, if you’re accused of selling or distributing drugs, or if you’re growing cannabis at home and proceedings have been opened against you, the precise classification of the facts (personal use, minor quantity, existence of an organisation) is decisive for the sentence eventually applied. That’s why it’s essential to get advice from the very start of the investigation.

• Drug trafficking (Arts. 368 to 372 CP): cultivation, production, transport, possession or promotion of illegal drug use.
• Cultivation and production of controlled substances (Art. 368 CP).
• Public health offences in premises open to the public (Art. 370 CP): aggravating circumstances when the acts take place in premises with public access.

We support clients through sensitive situations within the family or a couple: you’re experiencing control, threats or assault from a partner or ex-partner, the other parent won’t let you see your children or has taken them without your consent, or you haven’t received the court-ordered child maintenance for months. We act both for victims and, where appropriate, in the defence of the person under investigation, always with the utmost sensitivity and in coordination with existing protection services.

• Gender-based violence (Organic Law 1/2004, of 28 December):
  • Non-habitual ill-treatment (Art. 153 CP)
  • Coercion (Art. 172.2 CP)
  • Threats (Art. 171.4 CP)
  • Injuries (Art. 148.4 CP)
  • Stalking / harassment (Art. 172 ter CP)
  • Insults and humiliation (Art. 173.2 and 4 CP)
• Domestic violence / habitual ill-treatment (Art. 173.2 CP): repeated physical or psychological violence within the family.
• Child abduction (Art. 225 bis CP): removing or retaining a child in breach of an established custody arrangement.
• Breach of custody duties (Art. 224 CP).
• Non-payment of maintenance (Art. 227 CP): failing to pay court-ordered maintenance for two consecutive or four non-consecutive months.

This area covers situations such as a serious workplace accident due to inadequate safety measures, companies employing undocumented workers under abusive conditions, or cases of discrimination based on sex, origin or other personal circumstances at work.

• Workplace accidents (Arts. 316 to 318 CP): breach of risk-prevention rules that creates a serious danger to workers’ life or health.
• Irregular employment of foreign nationals and illegal labour trafficking (Arts. 311 to 313 CP).
• Workplace discrimination (Art. 314 CP): serious unequal treatment based on sex, ideology, religion, ethnicity, disability, among others.
• Migrant smuggling offences (Art. 318 bis CP).

We act when a public official has demanded money or favours to speed up a procedure, when an administrative decision has been made irregularly to benefit someone, or when a client is the victim of a false report filed in bad faith.

• Malfeasance / abuse of office (Art. 404 CP): issuing a knowingly unjust and arbitrary ruling.
• Breach of official secrecy (Arts. 414 to 418 CP): disclosing confidential information accessed through one’s official position.
• Bribery (Arts. 419 to 427 CP): requesting or receiving money or gifts in exchange for an act related to one’s position.
• Influence peddling (Arts. 428 to 430 CP).
• Embezzlement (Arts. 432 to 435 CP): appropriating or diverting public funds for private use.
• Fraud by public officials (Arts. 436 to 438 CP).
• False accusations (Art. 456 CP): reporting false facts about someone to an authority, knowing them to be untrue.

Having a criminal or police record can make it harder to access certain jobs, public exams, immigration procedures or citizenship applications. If some time has passed since your conviction and you want to clear your record, we help you check whether you meet the requirements and handle the application.

• Prior review of the case to determine whether the legal requirements are met.
• Calculation of the applicable waiting period, which varies according to the severity of the sentence imposed.
• Filing the application with the Central Registry of Convicted Persons.
• Advice on expunging police records, which is separate from criminal records.