Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence Law
Organic Law 1/2004, dated 28 December, governing Comprehensive Protection Against Gender-Based Violence
Effective Equality of Men and Women Law
Organic Law 3/2007, dated 22 March, on the Effective Equality of Men and Women
State Pact Against Gender Violence
Royal Decree-Law 9/2018, dated 3 August, on urgent measures for developing the State Pact Against Gender Violence
Statute of the Victim of the Crime Law
Law 4/2015, dated 27 April 2015, of the Statute of the Victim of the Crime
Equal Treatment and Opportunities Between Women and Men in Work and Employment Law
Royal Decree-Law 6/2019, dated 1 March 2019, on urgent measures to guarantee Equal Treatment and Opportunities Between Women and Men in Work and Employment
Criminal Code
Organic Law 10/1995, dated 23 November, on the Criminal Code
Criminal Procedural Law
Royal Decree, dated 14 September 1882, Criminal Procedural Law
Protection Law of the Minor
Organic Law 1/1996, dated 15 January, governing the System of Protection of the Minor (amended by Law 8/2015 on modification of the System of Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence)
Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence Law
Law 8/2015 on modification of the System of Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence
Spanish Civil Code
Spanish Civil Code, dated 24 July 1989
Labor Act
Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, dated 23 October 2015, on the Labor Act
Free Legal Assistance Law
Law 1/1996, dated 10 January 2010, on free legal assistance
Circular 3/2003
Circular 3/2003, dated 18 December 2003, of the State Attorney General's Office, on some procedural issues related to the protection order
Aid and Assistance to Victims of Violent Crimes and Against Sexual Freedom
Law 35/1995, dated 11 December 1995, on Aid and Assistance to Victims of Violent Crimes and Against Sexual Freedom
Organic Law of the Judicial Power
Organic Law 6/1985, dated 1 July, of the Judicial Power
Protection of Witnesses and Experts in Criminal Cases
Organic Law 19/1994, dated 24 December, on the Protection of Witnesses and Experts in Criminal Cases
Free Legal Assistance Regulation
Royal Decree 996/2003, dated 25 July, which approves the Free Legal Assistance Regulation
Spain does not have a common law system and, regarding all the cases judged in Spanish courts, there are not a very large number of cases that reach the highest levels of the Spanish legal system, such as the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Spain. However, at certain points, the jurisprudence has established important tendencies that help to clarify different points that the substantive and procedural laws do not make clear:
- The victim is the only witness, which implies that the victim has a double role as part of the procedure and, at the same time, as part of the evidence. The Supreme Court considers that sufficient evidence can support the victim's statement as long as it has certain requirements (credibility, verisimilitude and persistence in the incrimination) "to avoid spaces of unacceptable impunity" (Judgment of 28 June 2012).
- The Judgment of 17 May 2010 of the Supreme Court establishes that no one must suffer harm by the reason that the facts that instigate the criminal proceedings have taken place in privacy between the victim and the defendant.
- There is no obligation for the victim to testify against the victim's partner or ex-partner (Supreme Court Agreement 24 April 2013) except in a case where the facts have taken place after separation or divorce. In a case where the victim exercises her right to go before the court in a private prosecution (through her lawyer), she will be obliged to declare her testimony or otherwise she must desist from her prosecution, leaving just the public prosecution.
- Unlike the general rule for criminal procedures, the territorial jurisdiction, in cases of violence against women, corresponds to the court where the victim had her habitual residence when the crime was committed (and not in the place where the crime was committed) (Supreme Court Agreement 31 June 2006).
- In the case of a breach of a precautionary measure adopted to protect the victim, her consent does not exclude punishment (Supreme Court Agreement 25 November 2008).
- A threat to commit suicide when the person warned does not do what is asked for is not a crime of coercion (Judgment of 3 March 2011 of the Supreme Court). On the one hand, the crime of coercion is a crime against individual freedom that consists of using violence to prevent a person from doing something that is not prohibited by law or to force them to do something they do not want, be it fair or unfair. On the other hand, an injury crime consists of impairing the bodily integrity or physical or mental health of another person. In this case, the judgment indicated with respect to the crime of attempted homicide that the intention to kill is not enough by itself to trigger this criminal type, establishing by the chamber that the acts declared proven are merely preparatory acts and not of direct execution. Nevertheless, the elements that make up the crime of coercion do not concur, since before the warning of taking their own life, if the warned person does not do what is required of them, typical criminal coercion is not committed. This is because there is no real limitation of freedom through fear or fear that is incompatible with its effective exercise, but rather a moral influence through feelings of compassion or pity — and even self-guilt — but its elimination is not in the area of protection of the criminal law of coercion.
- In the case of a crime of injuries in the area of gender violence, in addition to the right to financial compensation for such injuries, there is also the right to financial compensation for moral damages (Judgment 592/2003 of the Supreme Court).