Bill for a new Criminal Procedure Act
File 121/000074 · tabled on 30 October 2025
Lapsed bill
This bill lapsed on 6 October 2026 when Parliament was dissolved; it would have to be reintroduced in the new legislature. Parliament was dissolved by Royal Decree 806/2026 of 5 October (Official State Gazette of 6 October), and on dissolution all business pending before the Chambers lapses. It is not law: we keep the text as tabled for reference, alongside the text in force, which is the one that applies.
What it proposes
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.
Parliamentary stage
- Status
- No longer before Parliament (lapsed or withdrawn)
- Checked on
- File number
- 121/000074
- Text as tabled
- Official gazette · file 121/000074
The status shown is the one recorded in the Congress open data on the date indicated. A lapsed bill is not law: the text in force set out below applies.
What would change, section by section
On the left, the text in force checked against the consolidated version; on the right, what the tabled text says.
Modelo de instrucción
Text in force
Under the 1882 Act the investigating judge both runs the investigation and orders measures that restrict fundamental rights.
Text as tabled
The Public Prosecution Service would run the investigation and a Judge of Guarantees, outside it, would rule on measures affecting fundamental rights.
Duración de la investigación
Text in force
Section 324 of the current Act sets maximum investigation periods that the judge may extend.
Text as tabled
The bill drops a single abstract time limit for every investigation and creates an application before the Judge of Guarantees: once the standard duration is exceeded, the defence may complain of delay, a hearing is held and the judge may set a closing deadline. Time runs from the suspect’s first appearance.
Estructura
Text in force
An 1882 text carrying more than a century of successive amendments.
Text as tabled
A new Act of 1,023 sections in nine books, repealing the earlier amending provisions and amending the Judiciary Act and the Public Prosecution Service’s statute.
Who it affects
Anyone under investigation, arrested, charged or harmed by an offence, and the way the defence works: who investigates, who is asked for investigative steps and how the length of proceedings is controlled would all change.
Related pages
Source: the text published in the official parliamentary gazette and the Congress of Deputies open data on legislative initiatives. Informational content; it does not replace the study of a specific case.
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