Twelve-month time limit for judicial investigations in Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. Judicial investigations must be completed within a maximum of twelve months from the opening of the case. The judge may extend it in periods of six months or less, explaining the reasons and pending steps in a reasoned ruling.
2. Investigation steps ordered before the deadline or its extensions remain valid even if they arrive later. But if the judge does not issue the extension in time, or it is overturned on appeal, steps ordered after that date are not valid.
3. The judge must close the investigation when it has served its purpose. Once the deadline and extensions run out, the judge will issue an order closing the summary proceedings or the appropriate ruling in abbreviated proceedings.
4. The new rule also applies to cases already underway when the law takes effect. For those cases, the day the law takes effect counts as the starting point of the time limit.

Who it affects

• Investigating judges: They must watch the twelve-month deadline, give reasons for extensions, and close the investigation on time.
• People under investigation in a criminal case: They gain a time limit on the investigation, which the preamble links to the presumption of innocence and a trial without delays.
• Parties to criminal proceedings: They may request extensions and must be heard before extensions are granted.
• Cases already in progress: The new law applies to them, with the deadline counted from the day it takes effect.

Words worth knowing

Instrucción (investigation phase)

The early stage of a criminal case where the judge investigates the facts before trial.

Diligencias (investigation steps)

Investigation actions, such as statements, searches, or reports.

Auto (court order)

A written ruling by a judge that explains and decides something.

Sumario (summary proceedings)

The set of investigation records in the ordinary criminal process.

De oficio (on the court's own initiative)

When the judge acts without any party asking for it.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries