What is a criminal lawyer?

A criminal lawyer is a lawyer specialised in criminal law, who is an expert in dealing with complex cases and defending justice before the Courts of First Instance and Instruction.

A criminal lawyer is a professional who represents people who have been victims of a crime or who have been accused of being involved in an event that did not comply with the legal regulations of the Criminal Code.

A criminal lawyer is responsible for carrying out the following legal services:

• Crimes against persons
• Offences against liberty
• Offences against honour
• Offences of sexual aggression and abuse
• Offences against property and socio-economic order
• Offences against workers' rights
• Offences against Public Health and Drug Trafficking
• Offences against Road Safety. Breathalyser offences
• Offences against falsehoods
• Abandonment of the family
• Misdemeanour trial

Criminal Law

Criminal law is the branch of law that is responsible for compiling the legal laws that regulate the rights and freedoms of individuals.

As soon as one of the above provisions is not complied with by a member of society, criminal law sets out the legal consequences in the form of penalties and security measures to protect the person concerned.

The provisions of criminal law must be invoked when there is a need to apply the laws in defence of the dignity, freedoms and rights of the individual.

Principles of Criminal Law

Criminal law aims to safeguard social order, and therefore has a number of basic principles by which it is governed:

• Principle of Criminal Legality: This refers to the need to include in legal regulations all types of offences that do not guarantee public safety.
• Principle of the Legal Good: Criminal sanctions must be in accordance with legal values and comply with the good.
• Principle of the Fact: Criminal law punishes the "fact" that a person commits a negative action without interfering with questions such as the way of being. It only punishes actions that deprive the other person of his or her liberty.
• Guilt Principle: Every person shall be innocent unless the actual guilt of the accused is proven.
• Principle of Humane Punishment: Punishments should fit the crime committed and should not include actions that are considered cruel or degrading.
• Principle of Proportionality: This means avoiding the use of sanctions or penalties that entail the deprivation of liberty of the subject.
• Principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law: This refers to the impossibility of penalising citizens who have committed a prohibited action prior to the moment in which their refusal was dictated.
• Pro-Reo Principle: If there is insufficient evidence to charge a person, he/she will be considered free of charges. The accused (Reo) shall be favoured.
• Presumption of Innocence Principle: "Everyone is innocent until proven guilty".
• Onus Probandi Principle: Refers to the burden of proof to convict the accused.

How will a criminal lawyer defend you?

All lawyers specialising in the different branches of law perform multiple functions, however, a criminal lawyer has a great responsibility to develop each of their skills with special attention and delicacy.

Below, we present the functions performed by an expert criminal lawyer at G.Elías y Muñoz Abogados, in order to successfully handle your case:

• First consultation. The first contact with a lawyer who is an expert in criminal law is by means of a face-to-face or videoconference appointment, where you will receive advice on how to act from now on with regard to your case. He or she will also inform you, without any kind of obligation, of the legal steps to be taken to defend your case, such as filing a lawsuit or attending a trial. In the consultation, you will have to explain honestly the events that have occurred in order to provide the lawyer with information on how to defend you.
• Appearance at the depositions. It may be necessary for the lawyer to accompany you if you have to make a statement.
• Analysis of the facts and collection of evidence: Appointments will be made to clarify the events of what happened and work will be done to obtain the documents that testify to the facts.
• Be prepared for the other side's arguments: Be prepared for what the other side may argue or know how to respond to or invalidate certain evidence that may be presented against the client.
• Maintain contact: It is necessary to maintain continuous contact between criminal lawyer and client during the legal proceedings in order to stay informed of new developments.
• Negotiate with the opposing party: If the situation requires it and is favourable to the client, the lawyer will reach an agreement with the other party in order to speed up the proceedings and avoid lengthening the judicial procedure.
• Meeting before the trial: It is essential to arrange a meeting to prepare the defence at the time of the trial. Our criminal lawyer will always have sufficient arguments to testify in your defence and achieve an optimal result.

Choose the best criminal lawyer

At G.Elías y Muñoz abogados, we provide you with the best criminal lawyers so that they can offer you the legal assistance you need.

As we have stated above, a criminal lawyer carries out a large number of staggered functions that last over a long period of time, with the aim of bringing your case to success.

It is important to choose a good criminal lawyer with whom you can maintain a good relationship and with whom you have a special trust, with the aim of defending you in the best possible way at trial and in negotiations with the opposing party.