How to Request a Pardon (Indulto): What It Is, Who Can Apply and How It Works

The pardon (indulto) is probably the most misunderstood institution in Spanish criminal law: many people confuse it with an acquittal, with an amnesty, or with the clearing of a criminal record. It is none of those. It is an act of clemency that forgives, in whole or in part, a sentence already imposed by a final judgment, without reopening the question of whether the conviction was correct. As criminal lawyers who handle pardon applications, in this guide we explain exactly what it is, who can apply, how it is processed, what effects it has, and why patience is essential.

What a Pardon Is and How It Differs from Other Remedies

A pardon is the right of clemency provided for in the Spanish Constitution, which empowers the State to remit or reduce a sentence for reasons of justice, equity or public benefit present in the specific case. Its framework comes from the Law of 18 June 1870, a nineteenth-century statute that remains in force, supplemented by the regulations governing the processing of pardon files.

It helps to draw the distinctions from the outset, because they shape the whole strategy:

• Pardon vs. acquittal: a pardon does not declare anyone innocent. It presupposes a final conviction and merely forgives the serving of the sentence.
• Pardon vs. amnesty: a pardon forgives the sentence of one specific person; an amnesty extinguishes the offence itself, usually for a group, and requires legislation. In addition, the Constitution prohibits general pardons.
• Pardon vs. clearing a criminal record: these are separate procedures. A pardon forgives the sentence; criminal records are cleared through their own channel, with their own time limits.

Who Can Apply for a Pardon

Standing to seek a pardon is broad. The application may come from:

• The convicted person, normally through their lawyer.
• Their family, or any person acting on their behalf, even without holding their formal representation in the proceedings.
• The sentencing court, which may propose a pardon of its own motion when, in handing down or enforcing the sentence, it considers the penalty excessive or finds reasons of equity.
• The public prosecutor, also of its own motion.

It is not strictly mandatory to appear through a lawyer and court agent to file the application, but in practice a well-reasoned application, with the right supporting documents and aligned with the criteria the file weighs, is prepared very differently from an improvised letter. Because the decision is discretionary, the quality of the reasoning is decisive.

Full and Partial Pardons

A pardon may be full or partial:

• Full: all the penalties imposed are remitted. This is the most exceptional scenario.
• Partial: the duration of the sentence is reduced, some of the penalties are forgiven where there are several, or one penalty is commuted for a less burdensome one (for example, prison for community service, a fine, or a deprivation of rights).

A pardon may also be conditional: the Government may impose conditions, the breach of which means the rest of the original sentence must be served. As a rule, a pardon does not extend to ancillary penalties unless they are expressly included, so it is advisable to specify in the application exactly which penalties it is intended to cover.

How It Is Processed: The Mandatory Reports

The pardon file is handled by the Ministry of Justice, which gathers a series of reports before submitting the proposal to the Government. The essential steps are:

• Report of the sentencing court: the body that handed down the conviction issues a mandatory report on whether the pardon is appropriate, assessing the facts, the convicted person's subsequent conduct, and the reasons relied on. It is not binding, but a favourable report carries decisive weight.
• Report of the public prosecutor: the prosecution likewise gives its view on whether the measure is appropriate.
• Hearing of the injured party: where there is a victim or injured party, they are given the opportunity to be heard. Their position is a relevant factor, especially in offences with an identified victim.
• Other reports: depending on the case, information from the prison (conduct, progress, treatment programmes) and the documentation submitted by the applicant are added to the file.

Once the reports are gathered, the file is submitted to the Government, which decides at its discretion. A grant is formalised by Royal Decree, published in the Official State Gazette. A refusal, by contrast, does not as a rule require express reasoning, and the mere passage of time without a reply operates in effect as a rejection.

Effects of a Pardon (and What It Does NOT Do)

Understanding the effects properly avoids false expectations:

• It extinguishes criminal liability for the part pardoned: a full pardon extinguishes the penalty forgiven; a partial one reduces or commutes it.
• It does not clear a criminal record by itself: this is the most common misunderstanding. Being granted a pardon does not automatically cancel the criminal record, which has its own rules and time limits. Records must be dealt with through their own channel, and the cancellation periods are linked to obtaining the pardon when one is granted.
• It does not declare innocence or quash the judgment: the conviction still stands; what is forgiven is the penalty.
• It does not extinguish civil liability: the duty to compensate the victim remains; a pardon forgives the penalty, not the debt owed to the injured party.

Pardons and Suspending the Sentence While the File Is Pending

A very practical question is what happens with imprisonment while the pardon is being decided. Filing a pardon application does not automatically suspend enforcement of the sentence. That said, once a pardon has been requested, the sentencing court may order the suspension of enforcement of the sentence while the file is resolved, weighing factors such as whether immediate enforcement would render any eventual pardon meaningless, together with the circumstances of the case. For this reason, with custodial sentences the pardon application is usually filed in coordination with a request to suspend enforcement before the court, so as to avoid imprisonment while the Government decides.

The Real Timeline: A Lengthy Procedure

There is no deadline for applying for a pardon: it can be requested at any point during the enforcement of the sentence. Nor is there any legal time limit requiring the Government to decide within a set period. In practice, the procedure is long: gathering the mandatory reports and reaching a final decision can stretch over months, and often more than a year. It is best to accept from the outset that a pardon is a slow process with an uncertain outcome, which makes it all the more important to file the application as early as possible and to keep it well documented.

If a pardon is refused and the convicted person believes that safeguards were breached in the proceedings that led to the conviction, there are other avenues of review, such as a cassation appeal within the ordinary route or, once that is exhausted, a constitutional appeal (amparo) before the Constitutional Court where a fundamental right is at stake. A pardon and these appeals are not mutually exclusive: they serve different purposes and can be considered together as part of the overall strategy.

How We Prepare the Application

Because the decision is discretionary, the lawyer's work centres on building the strongest possible file. In our practice, we structure the application around:

• Reasons of justice or equity: a disproportion between the facts and the penalty, relevant personal circumstances that could not be fully assessed at trial.
• Reasons of public benefit: demonstrated social reintegration, extreme family situations, stable employment ties.
• Conduct after the offence: repairing the harm to the victim, treatment completed, training, steady work.
• Supporting documentation: reports from the prison, social services or doctors, and any material that backs up each point relied on.