Let us suppose that a person holds a collection of jewellery valued at more than one million euros, and that person has no documentation evidencing its origin or acquisition. Could such undocumented ownership constitute a criminal offence? The answer, as is often the case in Criminal Law, depends. Unexplained wealth may open an investigation, but […]

The money laundering offence, set out in Articles 301 to 304 of the Criminal Code, targets conduct designed to channel criminally derived assets into the lawful economy by concealing or disguising their illicit origin. The basic penalty ranges from six months’ to six years’ imprisonment, together with a fine of up to three times the […]

Picture the scene: Madrid, an auction house where a buyer examines a screen print attributed to a great artist, bids on it, wins and takes it home. He hangs the painting. He contemplates it for years, with the satisfaction of owning a work of international significance. Until one day someone tells him the harsh truth: […]

In our recent article, at Ayuela Jiménez we analysed Constitutional Court Judgment (STC) 15/2026, of 23 February, and noted that it could mark a turning point in pre-trial detention practice. The legality of what had hitherto been tolerated —that a generic “summary” or purely formal access to the incriminating evidence sufficed to order pre-trial detention— […]

For over a decade, Spanish criminal procedural law has included a key safeguard to ensure that a suspect in proceedings subject to secrecy (secreto de sumario) can effectively exercise their right of defence: their lawyer may (or, as will be seen, may only theoretically) have access to the essential elements of the proceedings underlying the […]

1.Introduction Setting 1 September 2025 as the official date for the implementation of the Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority (A.A.I.), a body provided for in Law 2/2023 of 20 February, regulating the protection of persons who report regulatory infringements and the fight against corruption. In view of the imminent entry into service of the A.A.I., we […]

As we explained in our previous article of 3 March 2025 (When is intimidation criminally relevant?), there are certain situations in which any person – regardless of their status or profession – may experience a negotiation in which a legitimate evil is announced to them if they do not comply with an equally legitimate condition. […]

On 25 March 2025, the Council of Ministers approved, in the first round, the Draft Organic Law amending Organic Law 10/1995, of 23 November, of the Criminal Code, with the aim of transposing Directive (EU) 2024/1226 to implement the European Union’s (hereinafter, “EU”) decisions in sanctioning matters (hereinafter, “Draft Law”).​ Objective of Directive (EU) 2024/1226 […]

The Concept of Intimidation in Criminal Law: Coercion, Threats, or Extortion? It is not uncommon for a criminal law practitioner to encounter situations, whether in negotiations or conflicts, where one person “intimates” another, and the latter perceives themselves as having been “intimidated.” In such cases, the legal professional must determine: Are we dealing with the […]

Overview of the Most Relevant Provisions of the Statute More than a year after the approval and entry into force of Law 2/2023, of 20 February, governing individuals who report regulatory breaches and combat corruption (hereinafter, “Law 2/2023”), Royal Decree 1101/2024, of 29 October, approving the Statute of the Independent Authority for Whistleblower Protection (hereinafter, […]