Private Prosecution in Sexual Offences: How the Victim Exercises Their Rights in Spain

When someone suffers a sexual offence, the criminal proceedings are not only the arena where the offender is tried: they are also the space in which the victim can assert their rights, their account and their right to redress. The mechanism that channels that active participation is private prosecution (in Spanish, acusacion particular). As a firm that represents victims of sexual offences, we explain what this procedural role involves, the rights it grants and how compensation is pursued.

What Private Prosecution Is

Private prosecution is the procedural role that allows the person harmed by an offence to join the criminal proceedings as a prosecuting party. It is not a merely symbolic position: it confers full procedural standing. The victim who appears can propose investigative measures, take part in witness examinations, file their own indictment, propose and present evidence at trial, classify the facts, request the sentence and claim civil liability.

Against the idea that the victim is simply a witness at the court's disposal, private prosecution turns them into an active participant in the case. It brings the direct perspective of the person who suffered the facts and, often, greater depth to the investigation, because the victim knows details and contexts that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Private Prosecution and the Public Prosecutor: Two Voices

In sexual offences, the Public Prosecutor brings the public prosecution in defence of legality and the general interest. This means the proceedings move forward even if the victim does not appear. So why also bring a private prosecution?

Because they are two voices that can agree or diverge. The private prosecutor and the Public Prosecutor often share the same claims, in which case they work in a coordinated way. But they may disagree: on how the facts are classified, on the sentence requested or on the scope of the compensation. The accusatory principle prevents the conviction from going beyond what the prosecuting parties have asked for, so the presence of a private prosecution broadens and strengthens the claim when the Prosecutor's stance does not fully reflect the victim's legitimate interests. Having an independent voice means not being left at the mercy of a single view.

The Statute on the Rights of Crime Victims

The victim's participation rests on a reinforced framework of protection. Law 4/2015, the Statute on the Rights of Crime Victims, which transposed Directive 2012/29/EU, recognises a broad catalogue of rights that accompany the victim from their first contact with the authorities:

• The right to information about the proceedings, their rights and the decisions affecting them.
• The right to protection of their person, privacy and dignity.
• The right to avoid contact with the offender on court premises.
• The right to legal assistance and to translation and interpretation.
• The right to active participation in the criminal proceedings.
• The right to protection against secondary victimisation, that is, against the additional suffering the proceedings themselves can cause.

These rights are not a discretionary favour but legal requirements that the private prosecution is well placed to have respected at every step.

Reinforced Rights in Sexual Offences

Organic Law 10/2022 on the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom has reinforced the specific rights of victims of sexual offences. Among the most relevant:

• Free legal aid regardless of financial means. It is a statutory right of the victim; it is worth stressing that this is not a commercial offer but a legal guarantee.
• Comprehensive support through specialised, round-the-clock crisis centres.
• Pre-constituted evidence, which is mandatory for minors and persons with disabilities in need of special protection, so that they do not have to relive the facts at trial.
• Limits on questioning about the victim's past sexual conduct, as a barrier against double victimisation.
• Reinforced protection measures throughout the proceedings.

A large part of the private prosecution's work consists of ensuring these safeguards are applied effectively and do not remain dead letter.

Protection Against Secondary Victimisation

One of the most serious risks for a victim of a sexual offence is secondary victimisation: the additional harm the proceedings can cause when the victim is made to repeat their account again and again, is questioned about their private life or is exposed to the presence of the accused.

For that reason, representing the victim works very specifically on this front: requesting that unnecessary contact be avoided, that screens or video link be used where appropriate, that improper questions be limited and that the confidentiality of the victim's data be preserved. Preparing the victim's testimony — explaining what is going to happen, what they may be asked and how the hearing will unfold — is an essential part of that protection, because it reduces distress and strengthens the firmness of the account.

Repairing the Harm: Civil Liability

A central goal of the private prosecution is repair of the harm. The victim who appears can claim the civil liability arising from the offence set out in Article 116 of the Spanish Criminal Code, under which anyone criminally responsible for an offence is also civilly liable. That liability comprises restitution, repair of the damage and compensation for losses.

In sexual offences, the compensation usually includes:

• Moral damage, which is inherent to this category of offence.
• Psychological harm proven by expert report (anxiety, post-traumatic stress and other consequences).
• Medical and therapy costs, both those already incurred and the foreseeable future ones.
• Loss of earnings, where the events have prevented the victim from working or caused financial losses.

The amount does not follow automatic figures: it depends on the seriousness of the facts and, above all, on the evidence presented. Where several people are responsible for the offence, Article 116 CP sets their respective shares and establishes joint liability between the principals and accomplices of each class, and subsidiary liability for the rest. Representing the victim as a private prosecutor includes building this claim on solid technical ground.

The Stages of the Case for the Victim

In outline, the private prosecution's involvement runs through these stages:

• Complaint and first steps: assistance from the outset, preparation of the statement and accompaniment at police and court appearances.
• Investigation: appearing as a private prosecutor, proposing measures (expert reports, witnesses, documents) and taking part in the examinations.
• Indictment: classifying the facts, requesting the sentence and quantifying the civil liability.
• Trial: presenting the evidence with the appropriate protection measures, examinations and closing submissions.
• Judgment and enforcement: monitoring service of the sentence, the protection measures and the collection of the compensation.

At each of these stages, the decision on how far to be involved belongs to the victim: they can take part intensively or delegate much of the handling, knowing that their legal position is preserved. Appearing as a private prosecutor is also flexible: the victim can join at any point in the proceedings and scale their involvement up or down as the case develops, rather than committing to a fixed level of engagement at the outset.

What Representing the Victim Adds

The essential contribution is that the victim stops being a passive witness and becomes a party with their own strategy. That means a fuller investigation, effective protection against secondary victimisation, a well-built claim for redress and, ultimately, the chance for their voice to weigh on the outcome of the case. The aim is not to replace the public prosecution but to ensure that the specific interest of the person who suffered the offence is represented with rigour in every decision the proceedings take.

The settled case law of the Spanish Supreme Court has progressively reinforced the value of the victim's testimony when it is persistent, credible and corroborated by peripheral data, as well as the central importance of repairing the harm. Knowing that framework helps steer the private prosecution towards the points that really determine how the case is decided.

Representing Victims in Madrid and Across Spain

The criminal defence firm Alonso Sala, based at Calle Velazquez 27 in Madrid and covering the whole of Spain, takes on the representation of victims of sexual offences as private prosecutors. We handle support from the moment of the complaint, protection against secondary victimisation, building the evidence and claiming civil liability, with the technical rigour and the sensitivity these proceedings demand.