A victim of a crime in Spain can take part in the criminal case in one of two ways. You can remain an injured party, in which case the public prosecutor brings the charges and claims compensation for you, or you can join the case as a private prosecutor (acusación particular) with your own lawyer and court agent and become a party with your own voice before the same court. The difference shows most at the end of the investigation, because when the prosecutor asks for the case to be dismissed and no prosecuting party is there to continue, the judge dismisses it unless an injured party comes forward within the time the judge may allow. With a private prosecutor asking for trial, the case can go to trial even if the public prosecutor does not press charges.
At Perseus & RC Abogados I act as private prosecutor in cases of injury, assault, threats, harassment, privacy offences and fraud before the courts of A Coruña and the rest of Galicia. My name is Luis Jurado Cano, a criminal lawyer registered with the A Coruña Bar Association under number 6317, and I work in English and Spanish. The criminal law page covers the rest of what we do.
What a private prosecutor can do
Once you are a party, you receive the court’s decisions, see what is in the file and can ask the judge for specific steps, such as hearing a witness nobody has called, a forensic medical report on your injuries, the details behind a bank account or phone number, or camera footage before it is deleted. You can ask for the suspect to post a bond and for assets to be seized if it is not posted, so that there is money to pay at the end. You can appeal whatever harms you, from a refused piece of evidence to a dismissal or the judgment. At trial your lawyer questions the accused and the witnesses, and if the accused wants a plea agreement, it has to be made with the prosecution asking for the heaviest sentence, which may be yours.
Compensation, in the same trial or separately
Whoever is criminally liable is also liable for the harm caused, and the criminal judge sets the compensation in the same judgment. What your own lawyer adds is proof of how much the harm is worth, with an expert report on after-effects, invoices, time off work and non-material damage, and a claim against the offender’s insurer or employer where the law allows. You can also keep the claim for a later civil case, which sometimes makes sense when injuries have not yet stabilised, but that civil case must wait until the criminal case ends. The choice between the two routes I make together with Ana Reza, managing partner of the civil department.
How long you have
You can join the case with full rights until the prosecution parties file their written charges, and joining at that point does not send the case back. After that, and until the trial begins, you can only join the charges already brought by the public prosecutor or another party. If your complaint is dismissed while you are not a party, you have twenty days to appeal, so when you report, ask to be notified of decisions and give an email address you actually read. A dismissal because the offender could not be identified is provisional and can be reopened with new information.
When it is worth it
Joining the case requires a lawyer and a court agent, and it is not always worthwhile. In minor-offence trials where the maximum fine is under six months you can attend without a lawyer, as explained on the minor offences page and in what’s at stake in a minor-offence trial. If the accused is your partner or a close relative, bear in mind that anyone who is or has been a private prosecutor loses the right not to testify against them, which is covered on the gender violence page. It pays off when there are lasting injuries, a significant sum of money, an offender with assets or an insurer behind him, or a risk that the investigation will fall short. In threats and harassment cases the evidence is usually on the victim’s phone, as covered in threats and coercion in Spain and cyberstalking. If the offender goes to prison, victims of offences such as homicide, injury, sexual offences or violent robbery who asked to be notified can appeal an early third grade or, for sentences over five years, parole, within five days to announce the appeal and fifteen to file it, as explained on the prison law page.
Where we are
Rúa Torreiro 13, 3.º C, 15001 A Coruña, Spain. Phone +34 677 841 007. If the case is in another court in Galicia or you live abroad, we start by phone or video call, in English, with your complaint and the latest court notification.
Frequently asked questions
The court sent me a letter 'offering actions' (ofrecimiento de acciones). What does it mean?
It tells you that you can become a party to the case and that you can claim compensation for the harm or waive it. If you do nothing, you do not lose the compensation, which the public prosecutor will claim for you. If you want to join the case, you need a lawyer and a court agent (procurador). What you should not do is sign a waiver without knowing what you are giving up.
If I do not join the case, do I lose my right to compensation?
No. The public prosecutor claims compensation together with the sentence even when there is no private prosecutor, and you only lose it by waiving it clearly. What changes is who calculates it and with what evidence, because your own lawyer can bring medical reports, invoices and expert evidence.
My complaint has been dismissed. Can I appeal without a lawyer in the case?
Yes. A victim can appeal the dismissal within twenty days even without having joined the case. The court sends the decision to the email or address you gave when reporting, and the period starts five days after that communication, so check that inbox.
Who pays my lawyer if the accused is convicted?
If there is a conviction, the judge can order the convicted person to pay the costs of the private prosecution, including your lawyer's fees, and usually does unless the intervention was pointless or asked for something far removed from what was tried. Victims of gender violence, terrorism or trafficking, among others, are entitled to a free lawyer in the proceedings arising from the offence, whatever their means.