Article 962 LECrim: the Immediate Trial for a Minor Offence

Few things are as disconcerting as walking out of a police station with a paper summoning you to court that same day, or the next, at the Juzgado de guardia — the on-duty court that handles urgent criminal business outside the ordinary listing system. It is neither a mistake nor an exceptional emergency: it is the mechanism of Article 962 of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, LECrim), designed so that certain minor offences are tried immediately, with no investigation stage and no waiting.

If You Have Been Summoned to the On-Duty Court: What an Immediate Trial Is

Article 962.1 LECrim hands the job of assembling the trial to the judicial police. Where they learn of one of the acts on the list, they "shall immediately summon before the On-Duty Court the injured parties and those who have suffered loss, the complainant, the person complained of and the witnesses who may give an account of the events".

The result is that the whole procedure is compressed: there are no preliminary proceedings, no transformation order and no written indictment or defence statement. The trial is reached with whatever each party brings with them on the day.

The Closed List of Minor Offences

The provision does not cover every minor offence. Only those it lists qualify: "a minor offence of bodily harm or physical mistreatment, flagrant theft, threats, coercion or insults".

• Bodily harm and physical mistreatment. Those in Article 147.2 CP — injury not requiring medical or surgical treatment, punished with a fine of one to three months — and Article 147.3 CP — striking or physically mistreating another without causing injury, with a fine of one to two months. We look at this in detail in our guide to the minor assault trial.
• Flagrant theft. That of Article 234.2 CP where the amount does not exceed 400 euros, typically shoplifting from a retail store. Here the statute requires the offence to be flagrant, a condition that does not appear in the others.
• Minor threats, coercion and insults. The minor forms of Articles 171, 172 and 208 and following of the Criminal Code.

There is also a jurisdictional requirement: that trying the case falls to "the Investigating Court to which the police report is to be delivered or to another in the same judicial district". If the competent court sits in another district, the immediate route falls away.

The Summonses and Their Warnings

Article 962.1 LECrim requires that, when summoning, the persons concerned be warned "of the respective consequences of failing to appear before the On-Duty Court". It adds two further warnings that are worth reading carefully on the summons itself: "that the trial may be held immediately at the On-Duty Court, even if they do not appear" and "that they must appear with the evidence they intend to rely on".

That second warning is the one that hurts most those who ignore it. There is no later stage for proposing evidence: witnesses must come that day, and medical reports, repair estimates, photographs or messages have to be brought in printed form.

The provision also contemplates asking those summoned for an email address and a telephone number for later notifications, with service by ordinary post where they cannot provide them.

Paragraph 4 explains why the time on the paper is so precise: "the judicial police shall set the time of the appearance in coordination with the On-Duty Court".

What the Person Complained of Must Receive

Article 962.2 LECrim is short but important: "the person complained of shall be briefly informed of the acts the complaint consists of and of their right to appear assisted by a lawyer. That information shall in all cases be given in writing".

Two guarantees, then: knowing the facts and knowing that a lawyer may attend. And a requirement of form — "in all cases in writing" — whose breach should be recorded in the trial minutes.

Paragraph 3 completes the step: the judicial police deliver the police report to the On-Duty Court "setting out the steps taken and the summonses issued and, where applicable, the complaint of the injured party".

What the On-Duty Judge Can Decide (Article 963 LECrim)

Once the police report is received, Article 963.1 LECrim offers two routes.

The first is closure. The judge "shall order the dismissal of the proceedings and the closure of the file where the Public Prosecutor so requests" in the light of two cumulative circumstances: that the minor offence "is of very slight gravity in view of the nature of the act, its circumstances and those of the offender" and that "there is no relevant public interest in prosecuting the act". For minor property offences the statute is specific: there is no relevant public interest "where the damage has been made good and there is no complaint from the injured party".

The second is to hold the trial. The judge "shall order the immediate holding of the trial where the persons summoned have appeared or where, even though one of them has not appeared, the court considers their presence unnecessary", also taking into account whether it will be impossible to take some essential item of evidence.

Where the Act Is Not on the List

For the remaining minor offences, Article 964 LECrim applies: the judicial police draw up the report and send it without delay to the On-Duty Court, which may close the case on the same terms as Article 963 LECrim or hold the trial immediately if everyone can be summoned while the on-duty shift lasts.

And if there is no time, Article 965.1 LECrim fixes the calendar: the hearing is listed "for the nearest possible working day among those set aside for that purpose, and in any event within a period of no more than seven days".

How the Trial Runs

Article 969.1 LECrim sets out the order: the trial is public and begins "with the reading of the private prosecution or of the complaint, if any", continues with the examination of the witnesses called and the evidence of the complainant and the prosecutor; then "the accused shall be heard, the witnesses they call in their defence shall be examined and any other evidence they offer that is relevant shall be taken". Closing submissions are made orally, with the prosecutor speaking first, then the complainant and finally the accused.

Paragraph 2 clears up a frequent doubt: the prosecutor attends "whenever summoned to do so", but may stay away in the situations set by instructions of the State Attorney General's Office where the minor offence requires a complaint by the injured party. In that case, "the statement of the complainant at trial affirming the acts complained of shall have the value of an accusation, even if they do not give it a legal label or suggest a penalty".

Judgment and Appeal

Article 973.1 LECrim requires judgment to be given "at the close of the trial and, where that is not possible, within the following three days". The judgment is also served on injured parties and those who have suffered loss "even if they have not appeared as parties in the proceedings", with details of the available appeals and time limits.

An appeal lies within five days (Article 976.1 LECrim), and is filed and handled under Articles 790 to 792 LECrim. It is a short and strict period: once it runs out, the judgment becomes final.

The Special Rule in Paragraph 5

Article 962.5 LECrim contains a rule of its own: where jurisdiction lies with the court for violence against women (today the Violence against Women Section of the Tribunal de Instancia, the single first-instance court created by Article 89 LOPJ after Organic Law 1/2025), the judicial police issue the summonses before that court "for the nearest working day", setting the day and time in coordination with it.

The practical difference is that the hearing no longer takes place during the on-duty shift itself, although the procedure remains that of the minor offence trial.

What the Defence Looks At

• That the act really is on the list. An act that does not fit one of the five groups cannot be tried through this immediate route.
• Flagrancy in theft cases. It is an express requirement of the provision and is not always present where the item is recovered later.
• The written information to the person complained of. Article 962.2 LECrim requires it "in all cases in writing".
• The evidence available that day. Witnesses present, medical reports, receipts, messages and photographs: what is not brought does not exist.
• The route in Article 963.1, rule 1, LECrim. Making good the damage before the hearing opens the door to closure in minor property offences.
• The consequences of a conviction. Minor as it is, it creates a criminal record until it is expunged.

If you have been summoned to an immediate trial at the on-duty court, the time available to prepare is measured in hours. You can speak to us on +34 91 078 65 74 or read our page on fast-track trials.