The Criminal Trial in Spain: How It Unfolds and How the Defence Is Prepared (2026)

The trial (juicio oral) is the decisive stage of a Spanish criminal case: everything the investigation has gathered over months is put to the only test that really counts, the evidence taken before the court that will give judgment.

What the trial (juicio oral) is and what is decided at it

The trial is the judgment stage: once a judge has investigated the case and a charge has been brought, a different court decides, on the evidence taken before it, whether the accused is guilty. The hearing is public on pain of nullity under Art. 680 of the Criminal Procedure Act (LECrim), unless it is held in private for security, public order or the protection of those involved, such as the victim (Art. 681). It is oral and adversarial: the court sees and hears the evidence directly, over consecutive sessions until it concludes (Art. 744 LECrim).

At stake is the presumption of innocence (Art. 24.2 of the Spanish Constitution), which can only be overturned by incriminating evidence taken, as a rule, at that hearing. So what was said at the police station or before the investigating judge is not, on its own, enough to convict.

If you have been summoned to trial: what it means and what happens next

It means that the case has passed the investigation and the intermediate phase: a prosecuting party (the Public Prosecutor's Office or, for example, the victim as private prosecutor) asked for the trial to be opened and the judge agreed, naming the court that will try it (Art. 783 LECrim). It does not mean you will be convicted.

In the abbreviated procedure (procedimiento abreviado), for offences carrying up to nine years' imprisonment, the route is: appearance with a lawyer and a court agent (procurador) within three days, ten days for the defence brief, preliminary hearing, trial date, trial and judgment (Arts. 784 to 789 LECrim). The whole process, from the complaint (querella or denuncia), is in our guide to the stages of a Spanish criminal case.

Attendance is compulsory (Art. 787.1 LECrim). A trial in absentia requires a prosecution request, a hearing for the defence and a court satisfied that there is enough to try the case; the absence must be unjustified, the summons properly served, the most serious sentence sought no more than two years' imprisonment (six years for other kinds of penalty; any fine qualifies) and the custodial sentences sought no more than five years in total.

What Art. 741 LECrim says and how the court weighs the evidence

The first paragraph of Art. 741 LECrim reads:

«El Tribunal, apreciando según su conciencia las pruebas practicadas en el juicio, las razones expuestas por la acusación y la defensa y lo manifestado por los mismos procesados, dictará sentencia dentro del término fijado en esta Ley.»

Unofficial English translation:

The Court, assessing according to its conscience the evidence taken at the trial, the arguments put forward by the prosecution and the defence and the statements made by the accused themselves, shall deliver judgment within the time limit laid down in this Act.

The second paragraph obliges the court, when it uses the discretion the Criminal Code (CP) gives it to classify the offence or set the sentence, to state whether it has considered the factors the law requires. In practice:

• Weighed freely, not arbitrarily: no evidence has a value fixed by law and there is no minimum number of witnesses, but «according to its conscience» does not mean «as it pleases». The judgment must explain why some evidence convinces and some does not (Art. 120.3 of the Constitution), and that reasoning is what an appeal reviews.
• Only lawful evidence counts: evidence obtained, directly or indirectly, in breach of fundamental rights has no effect (Art. 11.1 of the Judiciary Act, LOPJ); see our guide to unlawful evidence.
• Doubt favours the accused: if reasonable doubt remains after weighing all the evidence, the accused must be acquitted (in dubio pro reo); see our post on the presumption of innocence.

Evidence must be taken at trial, with limited exceptions: investigative steps that cannot be repeated at the hearing for reasons beyond the parties' control may be read out (Art. 730.1 LECrim), and a victim's or witness's statement recorded during the investigation as pre-constituted evidence may be played (Arts. 449 bis and 730.2 LECrim), in which case the witness need not attend, save exceptionally (Art. 703 bis LECrim). For children under fourteen, see our guide to pre-constituted evidence.

Abbreviated, ordinary or jury trial: which one applies to your case

There are three main tracks; the hearing is largely the same, but the court, the steps and the appeals differ:

The track depends on the penalty the law sets for the offence, not on the sentence the prosecution seeks. More detail in our guides to the abbreviated procedure and the ordinary procedure.

The defence is built beforehand: intermediate phase and defence brief

Once the trial is opened in the abbreviated procedure, the defence has a common ten-day period to file the defence brief (escrito de defensa, Art. 784 LECrim), which states its position on the facts and their legal classification and, above all, proposes the defence evidence. In the ordinary procedure, the defence's statement of conclusions (Art. 652 LECrim) plays that role.

The window then closes: after the deadline, the defence may only propose evidence it brings to the trial itself (Art. 784.1 LECrim), except evidence it did not know about, which it may raise at the preliminary hearing (Art. 785.1 LECrim). That is why the key decisions are taken now:

• Witnesses: who really helps and what risk each one carries under cross-examination.
• Expert evidence: medical, financial or technological counter-reports challenging the official expert.
• Documents: messages, contracts, logs or digital media supporting the defence's account.
• The accused's testimony: whether to testify, answer only defence counsel or remain silent, and when.

Preliminary hearing and preliminary objections

Since Organic Law 1/2025, the abbreviated procedure includes a preliminary hearing (audiencia preliminar), called as soon as the case reaches the trial court (Art. 785 LECrim). The parties may raise a possible plea agreement, the court's jurisdiction, the violation of fundamental rights (the usual route to exclude unlawful evidence), preliminary points of law, grounds for suspension and the nullity of the proceedings or of the proposed evidence. The court admits or rejects the evidence and usually rules orally; no appeal lies, but the defence may enter a formal objection (protesta) and raise it again when appealing the judgment (Art. 785.3 LECrim).

In the ordinary procedure, these issues are raised as preliminary points of law (artículos de previo pronunciamiento) and, if rejected, may be raised again at trial as means of defence, except the challenge to jurisdiction known as declinatoria (Art. 678 LECrim). More detail in our guide to preliminary objections in Spanish criminal trials.

The plea agreement (conformidad): a strategic decision, not a surrender

The plea agreement (conformidad), the nearest Spanish equivalent to a guilty plea, is the accused's acceptance of the facts and the sentence in the most serious accusation brief (or in a new brief, without different facts or a more serious classification), so that judgment is given without a trial or without taking the evidence. It can be entered:

• Abbreviated procedure: in the defence brief, also signed by the accused (Art. 784.3 LECrim), at the preliminary hearing (Art. 785.4-10 LECrim) or at the start of the trial, before the evidence (Art. 787 ter LECrim). Since Organic Law 1/2025, the six-year prison cap of the former Art. 787.1 LECrim no longer applies; for jury trials, the Public Prosecutor's Office (Circular 1/2025, §6.2 and conclusion 5) regards the six-year cap in art. 50.1 of the Jury Court Act (LOTJ) as tacitly repealed, although its wording has not been formally amended.
• Ordinary procedure: when answering the accusation (Art. 655 LECrim) or at the start of the sessions, when the presiding judge asks each accused whether they admit the offence (Art. 688 LECrim).

The judge checks the classification and the sentence and hears the accused on whether they agree freely; the judgment can only be appealed if the requirements or terms of the agreement were not respected, never on the merits (Art. 785.10 LECrim). The one-third sentence reduction is a different regime, that of Art. 801 LECrim in the fast-track procedure (Arts. 795 ff. LECrim), and it is not confined to the duty court: it can also be reached from preliminary proceedings (diligencias previas) when the suspect, assisted by a lawyer, admits the facts before the judge (Art. 779.1.5.ª LECrim) and, where there is a private prosecutor, it can be agreed in the defence brief (Art. 801.5 LECrim). Deciding calls for a cold look at the prosecution evidence and the sentence achievable at trial: see how a plea agreement works.

The stages of the trial, step by step

In the abbreviated procedure, after the preliminary hearing, the trial follows this order:

The order of evidence is set by Art. 701 LECrim, a general rule that also governs the abbreviated procedure (Art. 758 LECrim): first the public prosecutor's, then the other prosecuting parties' and finally the defence's. Since Organic Law 1/2025, if the accused, on their lawyer's proposal, asks to testify last, the presiding judge must agree, so they can answer knowing what witnesses and experts have said.

Evidence is taken in a concentrated manner, and the trial can only be suspended on the grounds in Art. 746 LECrim (among them, an incidental issue that cannot be resolved on the spot, the absence of necessary witnesses, sudden illness of the accused, defence counsel or a judge, or unexpected revelations) and, in the abbreviated procedure, for thirty days at most (Art. 788.1 LECrim).

After the trial: judgment and appeals

In the abbreviated procedure, judgment is given within five days of the trial (Art. 789.1 LECrim), although the Criminal Section (formerly the Juzgado de lo Penal) may deliver it orally at the hearing and, if no one is going to appeal, declare it final and rule on suspending the sentence (Art. 789.2 LECrim). It may not impose a heavier sentence than the prosecution sought, nor convict of a different offence that protects another legal interest or substantially changes the facts tried (Art. 789.3 LECrim).

The Criminal Section's judgment may be appealed to the Provincial Court within ten days of notification (Art. 790.1 LECrim); those of the Provincial Court at first instance and of the jury court go to the High Court of Justice (Arts. 846 ter and 846 bis a). Appeal judgments may then be taken to the Supreme Court in cassation under Art. 847 LECrim: those of the High Courts for infringement of the law and procedural defects, those of the Provincial Courts only for infringement of the law (Art. 849.1.º LECrim). More detail in our guides to criminal appeals in Spain and cassation appeals.

What to do (and what not to do) before and during the trial

• Before the hearing: review the whole case file with your lawyer, including your earlier statement, as any change in your account will be noticed; decide on the evidence in time, and do not discuss the case with witnesses or the victim, or post about it.
• Your testimony: prepare it with your lawyer (see how to testify at a criminal trial); in court, listen to the whole question and answer slowly and only what is asked, without arguing with the prosecutor. If the strategy is to answer only your lawyer or to stay silent, keep to it: it is a constitutional right and cannot be treated as a confession.
• Language: if you do not speak or understand Spanish, you are entitled to an interpreter throughout the trial and to a written translation of the accusation brief and the judgment, at public expense (Art. 123 LECrim).
• Your attitude: arrive early with your ID card or passport, dress discreetly and switch off your phone. The court watches the accused throughout: do not gesture or interrupt the witnesses. In-court identifications carry their own risks: see our post on the identification of the accused at trial.
• The last word: brief and prepared with your lawyer; it is a right (Art. 739 LECrim), not an obligation to improvise.

Facing a criminal trial in Spain with the right defence

A trial is decided at the hearing but built over weeks: studying the file, drafting the defence brief, choosing the evidence, preparing the examinations and the closing speech, and calmly assessing any plea agreement. Alonso Sala, a criminal defence practice in Madrid with more than fifteen years of experience, takes on defence at trial throughout Spain. If you have a trial date, you can call us on +34 91 078 65 74 for an initial assessment of your case.