Criminal law bills of the 15th Legislature that lapsed on 6 October 2026 when Parliament was dissolved, with the change each one proposed, section by section, exactly as it appears in the text tabled.
Parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026
Royal Decree 806/2026 of 5 October (Official State Gazette of 6 October) dissolved the Congress of Deputies and the Senate and called a general election for 29 November 2026. On dissolution, all business pending before the Chambers lapses (Article 207 of the Standing Orders of the Congress): none of the bills on this page is still before Parliament and, to go ahead, any of them would have to go through Parliament again in the new legislature, whose Chambers convene on 23 December 2026. We keep the text as tabled here for reference; the law that applies is the text in force.
What this page covers
This page contains two things only: the text exactly as tabled and published in the official parliamentary gazette, and the status of each file according to the Congress open data. None of these bills was passed and none is law: the text in force governs, and each entry sets it out alongside the change that was proposed. Reforms already enacted are on the criminal law reforms page.
Status checked on 18 October 2026
Lapsed bills (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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CPLECrimJudiciary ActOrganic Law 1/2004Civil CodeCivil Procedure ActOrganic Law 1/1996Law 20/2011Law 4/2015General Social Security Act
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CP
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 tabled, the bill set 1 January 2028 as its commencement date, except for part of the amendments to the Public Prosecution Service’s statute, which were to apply twenty days after publication. Now that the bill has lapsed, no commencement date is scheduled.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)LECrimLOPJPublic Prosecution Service Statute
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CPLOPJ
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. Both lapsed on 6 October 2026 when Parliament was dissolved: file 122/000201 while it was before the Senate, and file 122/000167 while it was still awaiting the plenary vote on whether to take it into consideration.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CP
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CPLECrimJudiciary ActAdministrative Jurisdiction ActRoyal Legislative Decree 1/2007Organic Law 3/2018Law 13/2022
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)LECrim
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CP
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)Organic Law 5/2000Civil Procedure Act
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CP
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.
No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)CPOrganic Law 5/2000
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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