Plea Agreements in Spanish Criminal Trials: How They Work and How Much They Reduce

In American films it is called a "plea bargain". In Spain it is the conformidad: the defendant, assisted by their lawyer, accepts the facts, the legal classification and the requested sentence —or a lower sentence negotiated with the prosecution— and the judge delivers judgment on the spot, without holding a trial. Organic Law 1/2025, of 2 January, on the efficiency of the public Justice service, has thoroughly reformed this institution: it removed the sentence caps, created a preliminary hearing designed to channel the agreement, and added new safeguards for both the defendant and the victim. Our criminal defense lawyers explain how it works today and, above all, how much it actually reduces the sentence.

What a Plea Agreement Is and What Exactly You Accept

Pleading is not just "admitting guilt". It means accepting three things at once:

• The facts, as described in the indictment or under an agreed, nuanced account.
• The legal classification: which offense it is and the degree of participation.
• The specific sentence requested, or the lower one negotiated, including civil liability.

In exchange, no evidence is examined: the judge or court delivers a plea-agreement judgment orally, recorded in the minutes. If the prosecutor and the parties state that they will not appeal, the judgment is declared final in the same act and the judge immediately rules, after hearing the parties, on the suspension of the sentence or its substitution where applicable (Arts. 655 and 785 LECrim, the Spanish Criminal Procedure Act). A single hearing can therefore end with a final conviction and the suspension already decided.

What LO 1/2025 Changes (and What the Previous Regime Said)

Until this reform, the plea agreement had two heavily criticised features. First, the law capped it according to the severity of the requested sentence, so the most serious cases could not be closed this way and necessarily had to go to trial. Second, in practice the deal was often struck "at the courtroom door", on the very day of the trial, with all the pressure of deciding something irreversible in minutes. LO 1/2025 changes both:

Aspect	Previous regime	Current regime (LO 1/2025)
Sentence cap	Plea limited by the severity of the requested sentence	No sentence cap: available whatever the sentence (Art. 655 LECrim)
Timing	Usually at the start of the oral trial	A preliminary hearing before trial, convened as soon as the case reaches the trial court (Art. 785 LECrim)
Form of the deal	Plea to the prosecution's indictment	Additionally, a joint indictment submission signed by the prosecution and the defense
Information for the defendant	No documented step	The lawyer must hand over the information about the agreement in writing
The victim	No generalized specific hearing	The prosecutor must hear the victim beforehand, even if not a party to the case, under Art. 655.2 LECrim

After the reform, Art. 787 LECrim no longer governs the plea: the oral trial in the abbreviated procedure starts directly with the reading of the prosecution and defense submissions, because the agreement now has its natural channel earlier, at the preliminary hearing.

At What Points Can a Plea Agreement Be Reached?

1. At the duty court, in fast-track trials: before the duty court itself, for offenses processed through this route (drink-driving cases are the classic example; LO 1/2025 also added breaking and entering of a dwelling under Article 202 CP and squatting under Article 245 CP to the fast-track trial catalogue). This is the only scenario with an automatic one-third reduction (Art. 801 LECrim).
2. Through a joint indictment submission: the prosecution and the defense may sign a single document with the agreed facts, classification and sentence. It has a legal limit: it cannot refer to different facts or contain a more serious classification than the previous indictment (Art. 655 LECrim).
3. At the preliminary hearing of the abbreviated procedure: at that hearing the parties may ask the judge to deliver a plea-agreement judgment, either based on the most serious indictment or on the joint submission filed at that very moment (Art. 785.4 LECrim). The attendance of the defendant and their lawyer is mandatory.
4. In ordinary proceedings (sumario): when responding to the indictment, the defense may state its full agreement with the most serious classification and the requested sentence (Art. 655 LECrim), today without any sentence cap.

How Much Is the Sentence Reduced? The One-Third Cut Only Applies in Fast-Track Trials

This is the most widespread misunderstanding, and it needs clearing up: the automatic one-third reduction exists only in fast-track trials, when the plea is entered before the duty court (Art. 801 LECrim). LO 1/2025 did not extend that discount to other procedures.

Example in a drink-driving case: if the prosecutor requests a 12-month driving ban, pleading at the duty court brings it down to 8 months; a EUR 900 fine becomes EUR 600.

Outside the fast-track trial —in the abbreviated and ordinary procedures— there is no automatic discount. The improvement is obtained through negotiation, and when well prepared it can match or exceed that one-third:

• A less serious classification or a lower degree of participation, where the facts allow it.
• Mitigating circumstances: repairing the damage to the victim before trial (Article 21.5 CP) or a prior confession (Article 21.4 CP) can lower the sentence.
• Setting the sentence at the legal minimum of the range provided for the offense.

The practical goal of many negotiations is the two-year threshold: Article 80 CP allows the suspension of custodial sentences not exceeding two years where it is reasonable to expect that enforcing them is not necessary to prevent future offending. A plea agreement that keeps the sentence at that threshold, combined with the suspension being decided in the same act, can make the difference between going to prison or not.

The Judge's Scrutiny: A Plea Agreement Is Not Rubber-Stamped

The judge does not simply endorse what was agreed. Before delivering judgment, the court must verify, based on the account of facts accepted by all parties, that the classification is correct and the sentence is legally appropriate. If it considers they are not, it will require the prosecution to rectify; if no proper rectification follows, it will order the trial to be held. In addition:

• The judge must inform the defendant of the consequences of the plea and expressly ask whether they enter it; if the court has doubts about whether the plea is freely given, it will order the trial to go ahead.
• Your lawyer must have handed you the information about the agreement in writing: it is a legal obligation, not a courtesy.
• The prosecutor must first hear the victim or injured party, even if they are not parties to the case, whenever possible and deemed necessary, and in any event when the facts are especially serious or the victim is especially vulnerable.
• If there are several defendants and not all of them plead, the trial is held for all of them.
• The defense lawyer may ask for the trial to continue despite their client's plea, if the judge finds the request well founded (Art. 785.7 LECrim).
• If the defendant is a legal entity, the plea must be entered by a specially appointed representative holding a special power of attorney.

Can a Plea-Agreement Judgment Be Appealed?

Only to a very limited extent. Plea-agreement judgments can only be appealed when the requirements or terms of the agreement were not respected; the defendant cannot challenge on the merits a plea freely given (Arts. 655.7 and 785.10 LECrim). That is why the decision must be made properly beforehand: if your question is whether you should accept or refuse, we analyse it in our guide on the pros and cons of plea deals.