Article 147 Spanish Criminal Code: The Offence of Bodily Harm (2026)
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listIn this article
lightbulbKey Takeaways
- check_circleMedical treatment = less serious offence
- check_circleFirst aid only = minor offence
- check_circleAggravating factors: weapons, partner, children
- check_circleSelf-defence may exclude liability
Article 147 of the Spanish Criminal Code is the basic provision for the offence of bodily harm. It punishes anyone who causes another an injury that impairs their bodily integrity or their physical or mental health. As assault and bodily harm defence lawyers, we explain its key features.
What Article 147 Says
- Art. 147.1 — Injury with medical treatment: the injury objectively requires, in addition to first aid, medical or surgical treatment. Penalty: prison of 3 months to 3 years or a fine of 6 to 12 months.
- Art. 147.2 — Minor injury: the injury requires no treatment. Penalty: a fine of 1 to 3 months.
- Art. 147.3 — Battery: striking or mistreating another without causing injury. Penalty: a fine of 1 to 2 months.
The Key Threshold: Treatment vs. First Aid
The element that decides the classification is whether the injury needed only first aid or, in addition, medical treatment. Case law treats stitches, plaster immobilisation or a rehabilitation regime as treatment. Simple observation or an initial dressing is not. This distinction is argued through the forensic medical report.
Aggravated Bodily Harm (Arts. 148 to 150)
- Art. 148: prison of 2 to 5 years where weapons or dangerous means are used, there is cruelty, or the victim is a child under 14, a person with a disability or the offender's partner.
- Art. 149: prison of 6 to 12 years for the loss of a principal organ or limb, a sense, impotence, sterility or serious disfigurement.
- Art. 150: prison of 3 to 6 years for the loss of a non-principal limb or for disfigurement.
Self-defence changes everything
If the injury was caused while repelling an attack, the defence of self-defence may apply, excluding criminal liability altogether. It is one of the first avenues to assess.
Defence Strategies
- Self-defence or necessity: the conduct was justified.
- Disputing the forensic report to deny genuine medical treatment and downgrade the type.
- Mutually accepted brawl: nuancing authorship and the dynamics of events.
- No intent: reclassifying the facts as negligent injury, with a lower penalty.
- Compensation for the victim, triggering the mitigating factor of Art. 21.5.
Charged with an offence of bodily harm?
From a fight to a serious charge: the strategy depends on the forensic report and the dynamics of events.
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Frequently asked questions
What does article 147 of the Criminal Code say?expand_more
It punishes injuries that require medical or surgical treatment in addition to initial care, with imprisonment of 3 months to 3 years or a fine. If the injury only needed initial care, with no subsequent treatment, it is a minor offence punished with a fine (art. 147.2 CP).
When do injuries amount to an offence rather than a minor offence?expand_more
The dividing line is medical treatment: if recovery required medical or surgical treatment (sutures, a cast, prescribed rehabilitation), it is an offence under 147.1; if initial care was enough (dressings, observation), it is a minor offence punished with a fine.
Does an assault causing injuries lead to prison?expand_more
It can, but not always: with a penalty below 2 years and no criminal record, suspension of the prison sentence is usually granted. The penalty depends on the seriousness, the means used and the aggravating circumstances (treachery, cruelty or the use of weapons or dangerous objects).
How is a bodily harm charge defended?expand_more
By disputing authorship, self-defence (art. 20.4 CP) or a mutually accepted fight, the true severity of the injury and the actual need for treatment, and by challenging the medical reports. Repairing the harm operates as a mitigating circumstance.
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