When the police arrest a boy or girl aged 14 to 17 in Spain, they have at most 24 hours to release them or hand them over to the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía de Menores), and the prosecutor then has 48 hours from the arrest to release the child, drop the matter or open a case file and ask the judge for interim measures. With or without an arrest, it is the prosecutor who investigates juvenile cases, takes the child’s statement with a lawyer present and asks a technical team for a report on the family and surroundings. The Juvenile Court steps in to authorise anything that restricts rights, to rule on interim measures and, at the end, to hold the hearing and give judgment.
I am Luis Jurado Cano, a criminal lawyer registered with the A Coruña Bar Association under number 6317, and at Perseus & RC Abogados I handle juvenile cases before the prosecutor and the Juvenile Court of A Coruña under Organic Law 5/2000 on the criminal responsibility of minors, which gives parents a part to play at almost every stage and makes them answer for the damage. Adult cases are on the criminal defence page.
From the police station to the prosecutor
The officers must explain the accusation and the child’s rights in words the child understands, tell the parents straight away and keep the child apart from adult detainees, with a free interpreter if needed. Any statement is given with the lawyer present and, unless the circumstances advise otherwise, with the parents too. If you get a call saying your child has been arrested, say that the family is appointing its own lawyer and call us. Until then, your child should not give their version to anyone, including friends by message.
Without an arrest, a summons comes from the prosecutor, and the child and parents have three days to appoint a lawyer before a duty lawyer is assigned. From then on the lawyer can see the file whenever they ask, and with the evidence in front of us we decide whether the child should make a statement.
The report and the ways out before a hearing
The technical team’s report on the child’s psychological, educational and family situation is due within ten days, extendable to a month, and it carries real weight in the measure sought. We prepare the interview with school reports, any treatment and the changes the family has already made.
For a minor offence, or a less serious one without violence or intimidation, and with no similar history, the prosecutor can decide not to open a file and refer the matter to the Xunta’s child protection services. Where the offence is minor or less serious and there was no serious violence or intimidation, the case can also close through conciliation, when the child apologises and the victim accepts, or through repairing the harm or completing an educational activity. In sexual assault and gender violence cases this requires the victim’s express request and a prior sex and equality education programme.
Measures, not sentences
A minor is not given a prison sentence but a measure, chosen above all according to their age, family, personality and interests. The range runs from a formal warning by the judge, socio-educational tasks or community service, which requires the child’s consent, through supervised probation, weekend confinement or a day centre, up to living in a centre. Closed-regime custody is only possible for serious offences, for less serious ones involving violence, intimidation or serious risk to someone, or for offences committed in a group or gang, and never for negligence. As a general rule no measure exceeds two years, except for the gravest offences.
Interim custody while the case is ongoing cannot exceed six months, extendable by three, and that time is deducted later. A final measure of up to two years can be suspended for up to two years on conditions, and during enforcement the judge can reduce, replace or end it when that is in the child’s interest.
The hearing, and what parents pay
The prosecutor files written submissions with the facts, the measure sought and any compensation, and we reply within five working days. The child may attend with the parents unless the judge decides otherwise, the hearing can be held behind closed doors and the media may never publish images or identifying details. The judge first asks whether the child accepts the facts, the measure and the compensation, and I only advise agreeing when the deal beats what the evidence would bring. The judgment can be appealed to the Provincial Court of A Coruña within five days.
Compensation is decided in the same judgment, and parents, guardians or foster carers are liable for it together with the child. If your child is the victim of another minor, you can join the case as private prosecutor, see the file, propose evidence on the facts and appeal, and a victim under 14 gives their statement before the judge so they do not have to repeat it. Cases of cyberstalking, threats or shared intimate images turn on how the screenshots and the phone itself were preserved, as I explain in why electronic evidence decides cases.
Where we are
Rúa Torreiro 13, 3.º C, 15001 A Coruña, Spain. Phone +34 677 841 007. If the summons already has a date, tell us when you call. If your family lives elsewhere, the first conversation can be a video call, in English.
Related reading
- Cyberstalking in Spain, what legal protection you can obtain
- Being threatened or coerced in Spain, when it is a crime and what you can do
- Intimate images shared without consent in Spain, what you can legally demand
- Sextortion in Spain, what to do when they threaten to share your intimate images
- Why electronic evidence decides cases in Spain
Frequently asked questions
My child is 13 and has been reported to the police. What happens now?
Under 14 there is no criminal responsibility in Spain and no case is opened against the child. The prosecutor passes the matter to the Xunta's child protection services so they can assess the situation and act if needed. Any damage caused can still be claimed from the parents in the civil courts, unless they prove they took every care to prevent it.
Will my child end up with a criminal record in Spain?
Not in the adult criminal records register. Juvenile judgments go into a separate register that is not public, and they are erased automatically ten years after the child turns 18, provided the measure was fully served or has lapsed. While they remain, judges and prosecutors can see them.
Do we as parents have to pay for the damage?
Yes. Parents are liable for the victim's compensation together with the child and for the full amount, and the victim can claim it from any of them. The judge can reduce the parents' share if they did not encourage what happened, deliberately or through gross negligence. Compensation is decided in the same judgment as the measure and must be paid even if the measure is suspended.
My child has turned 18. Will they be tried as an adult?
Not if they were between 14 and 17 when the events took place. Age always counts from that date, so turning 18 before or during the proceedings does not move the case out of the juvenile courts. The judge does take the child's age at the time of judgment into account when choosing the measure.
We are foreign residents. What if my child does not speak Spanish well?
An arrested minor is entitled to a free interpreter, and the consulate is informed when the child lives abroad or when the child or the family ask for it. We explain every step to you and your child in English, and you can be present when your child gives a statement unless the circumstances make that inadvisable.