Continuing Offence in the Spanish Civil Code: Concept and Examples

Continuing offence is a legal concept that refers to a series of criminal actions that, although individually they could constitute separate offences, are considered as a single offence due to their nature, mode of realisation and continuity in time. This concept is applied in Spanish criminal law to limit the penalty to be imposed, seeking a balance between punishment and proportionality.

What is Continuing Offence?

The concept of continuing offence comes into play when a person, who has committed an offence, such as theft, forgery or crimes against property, persists in his criminal behaviour following a pre-established pattern or taking advantage of certain circumstances to commit the same offence or one of similar characteristics, affecting one or several persons. This principle is used with the aim of avoiding the assignment of a sanction that may be disproportionate to the seriousness of the acts perpetrated, while imposing a more severe punishment on the perpetrator for the commission of multiple criminal acts.

Examples of Continuing Offences

An example of a continuous offence is that of a pickpocket who steals several bags during a train journey; if he were to be sentenced for each individual offence, the total penalty would be very high. Since it is considered that the same or similar legal assets have been violated, that the actions are similar, that they were carried out in the same period of time and that the intention is unitary, the penalty can be "corrected" with the figure of a continuing offence.

Another example could be the following: imagine an individual who, over several days, carries out small scams in a local grocery shop, stealing small amounts of money from the cash register. Each of these acts, taken in isolation, could be prosecuted as a theft offence. However, because all of these actions are similar in nature, take place at the same location and follow a temporal pattern, instead of being tried for multiple theft offences, this individual would be prosecuted for a continuing offence. In this case, the penalty applied would be the penalty for the theft offence, but in the upper half, rather than the sum of the penalties for each individual act of theft.

Requirements for the Application of the Continuing Offence

For a group of actions to be considered as a continuing offence, certain conditions are necessary:

• Plurality of distinct acts: there must be several actions or omissions which together form a single offence, but which separately could be considered as distinct offences.
• Unity of the legal good harmed: All the actions or omissions must harm the same legal good, infringing the same criminal precept or precepts of a similar or identical nature.
• Unity of prosecution: All the acts must be tried in the same proceedings and none of the offences must have been tried independently.
• Unity of intent: This means that there must be a single purpose or plan behind all actions or omissions. Whether this plan was devised in advance or arose due to circumstances, all actions must be guided by the same intention.
• Unity of perpetrator: All acts must have been committed by the same person.
• Proximity in time and space: All offences must have been committed within a close period of time and in a close place.
• Consistency in the method of action: The perpetrator must have carried out all the acts following the same method of action, i.e. using the same or a similar way of proceeding.

Regulation of Continuing Offences in the Spanish Criminal Code

Continuous offences are regulated in Article 74 of the Spanish Criminal Code. According to this article, the perpetrator of a continuous offence will be punished with the penalty established for the most serious offence, which will be imposed in its upper half, and may reach up to the lower half of the higher penalty in degree. However, in the case of offences against property, the penalty shall be imposed taking into account the total damage caused. In such circumstances, the judge or court, with adequate justification, shall apply a penalty that is one or two degrees higher, to the extent it considers appropriate, if the criminal act is of notable severity and has caused harm to a large number of persons.

To sum up

Continuing offence is a legal concept that seeks to balance the proportionality of penalties in cases where multiple offences of the same or similar nature are committed. Through its application, it avoids the imposition of excessive penalties, while punishing more severely those who commit multiple criminal acts.

If you have any queries regarding criminal offences and criminal proceedings, please contact one of our criminal lawyers at the firm.