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Criminal Law Reforms in Progress

Criminal law bills still live before the Spanish Congress, with the change section by section exactly as it appears in the text tabled, and the official stage of each file.

What this page covers

This page contains two things only: the text exactly as tabled and published in the official parliamentary gazette, and the stage each file has reached according to the Congress open data. None of these bills is law and none applies to a case yet: while they are in progress the text in force governs, and each entry sets it out alongside the proposed change. Reforms already enacted are on the criminal law reforms page.

Parliamentary stage checked on 3 October 2026

Bills in progress (11)

Government bill (organic law)121/000106

Bill on measures concerning vicarious violence

To strengthen the response to vicarious violence —violence inflicted on a woman’s children or others close to her in order to harm her— through changes to ten pieces of legislation. On the criminal side, the text brings these cases within the gender-based aggravating circumstance of section 22.4 of the Criminal Code and creates a new penalty: a ban on publishing or disseminating content related to the offence. Beyond the Criminal Code, it expressly defines vicarious violence in Organic Law 1/2004 and amends, among others, the Criminal Procedure Act, the Judiciary Act, the Civil Code and the Statute of the Victim.

Equality Committee — amendments stageCPLECrimJudiciary ActOrganic Law 1/2004Civil CodeCivil Procedure ActOrganic Law 1/1996Law 20/2011Law 4/2015General Social Security Act
See what would change, section by section
Bill tabled by a parliamentary group in Congress122/000257

Bill amending section 379.1 of the Criminal Code on driving above the permitted speed

To lower the speed thresholds above which speeding stops being an administrative offence and becomes a crime. Penalties and the rest of section 379 are untouched.

Home Affairs Committee — rapporteurs’ report stageCP
See what would change, section by section
Government bill (organic law)121/000074

Bill for a new Criminal Procedure Act

A complete replacement of the 1882 Criminal Procedure Act with a new text of 1,023 sections across nine books. The substantive change is the investigation model: the Public Prosecution Service directs the investigation and a new judicial figure, the Judge of Guarantees, authorises and reviews any interference with fundamental rights without investigating. As presented, the bill would come into force on 1 January 2028, except for part of the amendments to the Public Prosecution Service’s statute, which would apply twenty days after publication.

Justice Committee — amendments stageLECrimLOPJPublic Prosecution Service Statute
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Government bill (organic law)121/000072

Bill transposing Directive (EU) 2024/1226 on the violation of Union restrictive measures

To add a new title to the Criminal Code punishing breaches of the restrictive measures —so-called sanctions— adopted by the European Union, and to adjust extended confiscation, money laundering and National High Court jurisdiction accordingly.

Justice Committee — amendments stageCPLOPJ
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Bills tabled by parliamentary groups in Congress122/000201 · 122/000167

Bills creating a criminal offence for so-called conversion therapies

To create a specific offence for practices aimed at changing, suppressing or denying a person’s sexual orientation, sexual identity or gender expression. Two parallel bills propose different solutions: file 122/000201 would insert section 173 bis of the Criminal Code and file 122/000167 a section 175 bis. They are at different stages: the status shown at the top of this page is that of file 122/000201 (Senate); file 122/000167 is still awaiting the plenary vote on whether to take it into consideration.

Under consideration in the SenateCP
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Government bill (organic law)121/000052

Bill for the protection of minors in digital environments

To protect minors in digital environments through changes to several laws. On the criminal side, the third final provision amends the CP on three fronts: it creates a new penalty barring access to, or communication through, social networks, forums, communication platforms or any other place in the virtual space; it makes the dissemination of sexual or seriously degrading deepfakes a specific offence in a new section 173 bis; and it aggravates several sexual offences against minors where the offender uses a false identity or claims an age, sex or other personal circumstances that are not their own. The first final provision extends the interim prohibitions in section 544 bis LECrim to the virtual space.

Justice Committee — rapporteurs’ report stageCPLECrimJudiciary ActAdministrative Jurisdiction ActRoyal Legislative Decree 1/2007Organic Law 3/2018Law 13/2022
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Bill tabled by a parliamentary group in Congress122/000174

Bill amending the Criminal Procedure Act to strengthen procedural safeguards on undercover agents

To limit police infiltration under an assumed identity. Despite its title, the text does not amend section 282 bis LECrim, which currently governs undercover agents: it inserts a single new provision, section 282 ter, prohibiting infiltration under an assumed identity for exploratory or preventive purposes outside the cases provided for in section 282 bis.

Awaiting the plenary vote on whether to take it into considerationLECrim
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Bill sent by the Senate124/000016

Bill amending the Criminal Code on drug trafficking

To raise the penalty for trafficking substances that do not seriously harm health, extend the aggravated assault-on-authority offence to attacks using a vessel, and rewrite the offence of holding and transporting fuel linked to supplying drug-running boats.

Justice Committee — amendments stageCP
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Government bill (organic law)121/000041

Bill amending Organic Law 5/2000 on the criminal liability of minors

To give the Juvenile Section of the Court of Instance (Sección de Menores; formerly the Juvenile Court) judge the age-determination procedure where there are reasonable doubts about whether a detained person is an adult or a minor, today decided by prosecutorial decree.

Justice Committee — amendments stageOrganic Law 5/2000Civil Procedure Act
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Bills from Congress and from the Senate122/000091 · 124/000037

Bills amending the Criminal Code on repeat offending in theft and fraud

To reorganise how multiple recidivism in theft and fraud is treated: the general aggravating factor, the sentencing rule, suspension of sentence and the aggravated offences. Two files carry virtually the same text, one from Congress and one sent by the Senate.

Justice Committee — amendments stageCP
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Bill tabled by a regional parliament125/000007

Bill amending the limitation periods for sexual offences committed against minors

To postpone and, in the most serious cases, remove the limitation period for sexual offences where the victim is a minor. It amends three sections of the Criminal Code —131, 132 and 133— and adds a specific limitation rule to the juvenile justice statute.

Justice Committee — rapporteurs’ report stageCPOrganic Law 5/2000
See what would change, section by section

Source: open data on legislative initiatives from the Congress of Deputies and the texts published in the official parliamentary gazette. Informational content: none of these bills is law in force. More on our methodology →

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