SPAIN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Gabriel Rodriguez-Ramos, RODRIGUEZ RAMOS ABOGADOS
The trends and foreseeable activities related to anti-corruption in Spain in 2025 can be outlined based on the recent paths taken by the Span - ish legislative, executive, and judicial branches (anticipating actions they may undertake over the coming months), while also focusing on the challenges that the private sector will face in this area in 2025. Legislative Branch The current legislative branch was elected in the general elections held on 23 July 2023. Accord - ing to the Spanish constitutional framework, the government (executive branch) is approved by the deputies of the lower chamber ( Congreso de los Diputados ). The current government was voted in and elected (16 November 2023) with the support of Catalonian independence parties, which have been under investigation since 2017 by various judges (from investigative judges in Catalonia to the Supreme Court), as well as the support of Basque independence parties (histor - ically associated with organisations that politi - cally supported the terrorist group ETA). In the last year, legislative developments affect - ing anti-corruption policies have been linked to those negotiations, specifically as follows. On 11 June 2024, the Organic Law 1/2024 on Amnesty for Institutional, Political, and Social Normalisation was published in Catalonia, elimi - nating declared legal responsibilities of Catalo - nian independent politics and ongoing investiga - tions related to crimes such as misappropriation of public funds, disobedience, and breach of official duty, connected to the independence movements from 2011 to 2023. Since the approval of the Spanish Constitution in 1978, no amnesty for criminal responsibilities has been enacted, and the implementation of
this Amnesty Law has sparked profound debates regarding its constitutional basis, particularly its potential incompatibility with the principle of equality before the law. The Amnesty Law is facing several challenges: • its application to the ongoing investigations of independence leaders by courts, including the Spanish Supreme Court; and • the request for the declaration of unconstitu - tionality of the law, filed before the Constitu - tional Court by the Spanish Supreme Court and various other entities. On 19 October 2024, the Organic Law 4/2024 on the exchange of criminal record information and consideration of criminal judicial decisions in the European Union was published, for align - ment with European Union regulations on the European Criminal Records Information Sys - tem (ECRIS). The legislative reform affects the Spanish criminal legislation with reference to the effect of final convictions of other EU mem - ber states against the same person for different acts which will have, in a new criminal proceed - ing, the same legal effects as final convictions handed down in Spain. This can have special consequences to estab - lish the limit for effective time of imprisonment (Articles 73 and 76 Criminal Code (CC)), affecting specifically members of the terrorist group ETA convicted both in Spain and France. The instability of the government (supporting parties in November 2023 do not show the same commitment when making public declarations one year later) makes it difficult to foresee the next legislative movements affecting anti-cor - ruption policies in the short and middle term. In the long term, the following is foreseen.
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