Assault & Bodily Harm: Complete Guide to Penalties & Defense

The offense of bodily harm (Arts. 147 et seq. of the Spanish Criminal Code (CP)) is one of the most common in the investigative courts. Yet its legal classification is one of the most complex and debated. Is a punch that breaks a tooth a minor or serious offense? Is a scar on the face a "deformity"? As criminal lawyers specialized in assault, we offer this definitive guide to understanding what you are facing and how to defend yourself.

The Key Threshold: Medical Treatment vs. First Aid

This is the most important distinction of all. Art. 147.1 punishes injuries that require medical or surgical treatment, while Art. 147.2 punishes as a minor offense (formerly a "misdemeanor") those that only require initial first aid.

• First Aid (Minor Offense): The medical act of treating for the first time (cleaning a wound, applying a bandage, even a simple stitch that needs no follow-up). The penalty is only a fine of 1 to 3 months.
• Medical Treatment (Basic or Less-Serious Offense): Requires medical planning for healing (complex stitches that must be removed, prescribing antibiotics or anti-inflammatories on a schedule, rehabilitation, plaster immobilization). Here the penalty can be 3 months to 3 years in prison or a fine of 6 to 12 months.

Defense Strategy: Our job is to show, with our own experts, that the "rehabilitation" the victim underwent was not medically necessary, but an exaggeration to collect higher compensation and increase the defendant's sentence.

Serious Injuries: Loss of an Organ or Sense (Arts. 149 and 150)

When the assault has permanent consequences, we enter the territory of serious prison sentences (3 to 12 years). The Spanish Criminal Code (CP) distinguishes between:

• Loss of a PRINCIPAL Limb or Organ (Art. 149): Losing an eye, a hand, a foot, the ability to hear or see, or sterility. Penalty: 6 to 12 years in prison.
• Loss of a NON-PRINCIPAL Limb (Art. 150): Losing a finger, an ear (the outer ear), or suffering serious disfigurement. Penalty: 3 to 6 years in prison.

The legal battle here is to define what counts as "principal" or "disfigurement". Is a 2 cm scar on the cheek a serious disfigurement? Case law is shifting and requires a very sharp technical defense.

Aggravating Use of Weapons or Dangerous Objects (Art. 148)

If weapons (knives, firearms) or "dangerous instruments" for life or physical integrity are used in the assault, the penalty for the basic offense is raised to 2 to 5 years in prison. What counts as a dangerous instrument? A baseball bat, a broken glass bottle, an iron bar, or even a steel-toed boot if used to kick the head. The "bottle blow" at a nightclub turns an ordinary fight into an aggravated offense with a real risk of going to prison.

Tumultuous Brawl: When It's "Everyone Against Everyone" (Art. 154)

It is very common in nightlife fights where several groups take part and the police cannot identify who threw the specific blow that broke the victim's nose. Art. 154 punishes those who take part in a "confused and tumultuous" brawl using dangerous means. The defense advantage is that, if we manage to have the facts classified as a tumultuous brawl rather than specific bodily harm, the penalty is much lower (3 months to 1 year or a fine), since what is punished is the danger created and not the individual harmful outcome (unless the actual author is identified).

Negligent Bodily Harm: The Accident

Not all bodily harm is intentional. If you push someone, they fall badly and break their hip, it may be an offense of seriously or less seriously negligent bodily harm (Art. 152). You did not intend to break their hip (no intent to injure), but you acted with negligence. The defense must fight to have the facts classified as negligence rather than dolus eventualis, which drastically reduces the sentence and often allows prison to be avoided.

Civil Liability: The Money

In addition to the criminal sentence, the convict must pay compensation. The Traffic Compensation Schedule (Baremo de Tráfico) is used by analogy:

• Days of Harm: Payment is made for each day the victim took to recover (more if hospitalized, less if only on sick leave).
• Permanent Sequelae: Payment is made for each point of permanent sequela (scars, loss of mobility) that remains for life.

A party-appointed expert report is essential to dispute these points and reduce the compensation, which can be the financial ruin of the convict if they have no civil liability insurance.