Criminal Defense Lawyers in Workplace Accidents
Criminal defense in serious workplace accidents. Reckless injury, homicide, and corporate liability.
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Criminal Liability in Workplace Accidents
When a serious accident occurs at work, the Labor Inspectorate automatically sends the report to the Prosecutor's Office. We are not talking about fines, but about Prison Sentences for the businessman, the safety manager, or the site manager.
The Criminal Code punishes strictly (Art. 316 CP) not only the result (injury or death) but the danger created by the lack of safety measures. If a worker falls because there was no harness, the person responsible faces charges for Crime against Workers' Rights + Reckless Injury/Homicide.
Recklessness: Serious vs Professional
The key to the defense is strict qualification. The prosecution will always speak of "Serious Recklessness" (grave negligence) to ask for prison. Our strategy is to demonstrate that strict protocols were followed and that the accident was due to an unforeseeable fatality or the worker's own "Professional Recklessness" (overconfidence), which downgrades the matter to civil liability or a minor offense, avoiding prison.
Defense Strategies
The defence is built around the chain of command and the duty of supervision. Three lines stand out. The first is concurrent fault: proving that the worker disobeyed safety orders contributes to reducing the employer's liability, although it never automatically exonerates it, since the employer must protect the worker even from their own carelessness. The second is the delegation of duties: demonstrating that the administrator had effectively delegated the safety functions to a specialised, competent technician. And the third is compliance: an effective crime-prevention plan can exempt the company as a legal person, even if an individual is convicted. Identifying who actually held the duty of supervision is, in these cases, decisive.
Penalty Chart
| Type / Scenario | Criminal Penalty |
|---|---|
| Principal Penalty (Art. 316 CP) | Penalty established by the Criminal Code for this offence type. |
| Fines and Ancillary Penalties | Fines and special disqualification provided by the Criminal Code. |
| Civil Liability | Compensation to victims for damages and losses caused. |
* Penalties shown are indicative. The actual penalty depends on case circumstances, applicable mitigating and aggravating factors.
Our Defense Strategy
Concurrent Fault
Proving that the worker disobeyed safety orders contributes to reducing the businessman's liability.
Delegation of Duties
Demonstrating that the administrator had effectively delegated safety functions to a specialized technician.
Compliance
Using the Crime Prevention Plan to exempt the company (Legal Person) from liability.
Economic Criminal Law in Spain: Tax Fraud, Money Laundering and Corporate Crimes
Economic criminal law encompasses the most severe financial penalties in the Spanish Criminal Code. Tax fraud over €120,000 (Art. 305 CP), money laundering (Art. 301 CP), and corporate crimes (Art. 290-297 CP) are complex offenses where defense requires a combination of criminal law expertise and deep accounting/financial knowledge.
Penalty Comparison: Economic Offenses
| Offense | Threshold | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Fraud (Art. 305) | >€120,000 | 1 – 5 years + fine x6 |
| Aggravated Tax Fraud | >€600,000 | 2 – 6 years |
| Money Laundering (Art. 301) | Any amount | 6 months – 6 years |
| Aggravated Laundering | Organized/financial system | Up to 9 years |
| Corporate Crime (Art. 290) | Balance sheet falsification | 1 – 3 years |
| Punishable Insolvency (Art. 259) | Fraudulent bankruptcy | 1 – 4 years |
Key Defense Strategies
Tax Regularization Defense (Art. 305.4 CP)
Pay the full tax debt before charges are formally filed and the crime is extinguished. This is the most powerful complete defense in tax fraud cases.
Challenge the €120K Threshold
The tax authority's calculation method is often contestable. Independent forensic accounting can challenge the assessed figure below the criminal threshold.
Money Laundering 'Self-laundering' Issues
Spanish courts have debated whether the primary offender can also be convicted of laundering their own proceeds. Challenge the double jeopardy implications.
Corporate Crime: Harm to Company vs. Shareholders
Art. 295 corporate crimes require actual financial harm to the company or its members. Demonstrate that any loss was speculative or absent.
Why Choose Us?
Need a criminal defense lawyer for this type of offense? Here's how we work:
Do you need specialised legal assistance?
The judicial system is complex. We have the criminal-law specialisation and technical resources required to take on the defence.