RESOURCES

Appeals are a means of challenging judicial decisions through which the party that has been harmed by a judicial decision requests its review, either by the same body that issued it or by a hierarchically superior body.

Reform action

The appeal for reform is an ordinary appeal that has no suspensive effect and can be filed, as a general rule, against orders issued by the Judges of Instruction and by the Criminal Judges that are not exempted from appeal. This appeal must be filed within 3 days following the notification of the decision to be appealed, before the body that issued the decision being appealed, and it is this same body that resolves the appeal.

Sometimes, the filing of an appeal for reconsideration is required prior to the filing of other appeals (for example, in summary proceedings, the prior filing of an appeal for reconsideration is required in order to file an appeal). However, in other proceedings, such as abbreviated proceedings, the filing of an appeal for reform is optional, and an appeal may be filed directly.

Appeal

Appeals may be filed against orders issued by the Examining Judges, against sentences issued by the Criminal Judges in abbreviated proceedings or in fast-track trials, against sentences issued by the Examining Courts in proceedings involving minor offenses, against sentences and orders issued by the Provincial Courts or the National Court in first instance and, finally, against sentences and certain orders issued by the Magistrate-President of the Jury Court.

The time limit for filing the appeal varies depending on the decision appealed against and the procedure: it may be a period of 5 days or 10 days from the notification of the order or judgment appealed against. This is an ordinary appeal, which must be filed before the Court that issued the decision being appealed, but which is resolved by its hierarchical superior and, therefore, by a Court other than the one that issued the decision being appealed.

Appeal in cassation

The appeal in cassation is an extraordinary appeal regulated in articles 847 and following of the LECrim, which can only be filed for specific legally established reasons, and which is resolved by the hierarchical superior to the one that issued the appealed decision, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court.

On what grounds may an appeal be filed?

1. For violation of the law. This occurs when a substantive criminal precept has been violated. For example, this appeal can be filed if the facts declared proven in a sentence are not really constitutive of the crime for which the accused has been convicted, since in that case the precept of the Criminal Code that punishes that crime is being violated. There is also a violation of the law if there is an error in the evaluation of the evidence based on documents (for example, if the judge has not taken into account in the sentence facts that are duly accredited by documents provided by the parties).

1. For breach of form, which may occur due to defects in the procedure (for example, for having denied relevant evidence), for defects in the sentence (for example, if convicted of a more serious crime than the one charged) or for infringement of a constitutional precept (for example, for having violated the defendant’s right to the presumption of innocence).

Which decisions can be appealed in cassation?

1. Appeals for infringement of the law and for breach of form may be filed against judgments handed down in sole instance or on appeal by the Superior Courts of Justice and against judgments handed down by the Appeals Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court).
2. The appeal for infringement of the law may be filed against judgments issued on appeal by the Provincial Courts and by the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court. This appeal may also be filed against orders issued in first instance and appeal by the Provincial Courts or by the Criminal Chamber of the National Court, provided that they terminate the proceedings due to lack of jurisdiction or dismissal.