Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Procedural Penal Law 1
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Introduction
The subject of Criminal Procedural Law I aims to introduce and familiarise students with the criminal process through which the State will apply the Criminal Law they have previously studied. This discipline, in general terms, aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for them to understand the effective judicial protection that must be guaranteed by the jurisdictional bodies and that in their professional future they will be able to manage with ease in criminal cases, in proceedings before the criminal jurisdiction.
The subject Criminal Procedure I will explain the principles of criminal procedure, the rights and guarantees of the prosecuted given its great importance during all phases of criminal proceedings. With the explanatory development of the syllabus and the student's study of this subject, the student will learn how to act as a legal operator in the investigation phase and what are the mechanisms and different investigative procedures to investigate criminal acts, among other competences that are developed below.
Pre-course requirements
It is advisable to have previously passed the subject Procedural Law 1.
Objectives
Are pursued the following objectives:
(i) To know the structure and functioning of the Spanish criminal justice system and to understand correctly the mechanics of the main criminal procedure institutions. It is intended that students understand the matter perfectly, so that they can face the law, explanations of customers and to assimilate smoothly specialized information.
(ii) Knowing how to handle easily and without help each and every one of the institutions of the declaratory criminal proceedings. At the end of the course, they should be able to write complaints, assist the client -in quality of researched-, make good technical defense during the instruction, and intervene in trials fluently.
(iii) Mastering the legal texts, its details, chinks and peculiarities.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 03 - To be able to express one's ideas and arguments in an orderly and coherent way both in oral and written form (written and oral techniques)
- 04 - To turn in documents that have been formally and thoroughly prepared to high standards
- 06 - To acquire the ability to make decisions
- 11 - To acquire skills for autonomous learning
- 17 - To understand and have knowledge of public and private institutional principles in their origin and as a whole
- 19 - To develop the ability to write legal texts
- 20 - To have knowledge of the basic aspects of legal argumentation
- 22 - To be able to identify and interpret documentation normally used in legal and negotiating settings
- 23 - To identify the state, doctrinal and legal framework of a complex legal issue
- 24 - To acquire the skills to resolve problems and make decisions using relevant information and by applying correct methods while placing the issue within a legal system context
- 25 - To acquire the skills for legal paperwork processing: composing texts, clarifying a position on a matter, use of forms, etc.
- 26 - To master the techniques and other evidence taking stategies
Learning outcomes of the subject
1. Know and understand the basic concepts of criminal procedural law: the purpose of the criminal proceedings, its structure and the complex web of procedural types.
2. Know, identify and understand the different phases of declaratory criminal proceedings, the evidence and the system resources.
3. There will be acquired skills in oral and written communication.
4. There will be developed skills in resolving legal disputes related to the contents of the module.
5. There will be acquired procedural skills.
6. There will be developed habits of neatness in personal presentation and document.
Syllabus
THEME 1. Criminal proceedings: aims and characteristics. Systems and principles of criminal procedure. Constitutional and supranational rights and guarantees.
THEME 2. Procedures and jurisdictional organs. Criminal jurisdiction and competence. Distribution. Recusal and abstention.
THEME 3. The ‘parties’ in criminal proceedings: Public Prosecutor's Office, accusing parties and victim. The accused parties in criminal proceedings.
THEME 4. Criminal action. The object of criminal proceedings.
THEME 5. The initiation of criminal proceedings. Ex officio initiation. Initiation by third parties: The report, the complaint and the lawsuit. Initiation by conversion of another procedure. Other ways of initiating criminal proceedings.
THEME 6. Investigation (I): Application and practice in summary proceedings, preliminary proceedings and urgent proceedings. Investigation diligences in the investigation phase.
Investigation (II): investigative measures limiting fundamental rights (i). Preliminary investigation (II): investigative measures limiting fundamental rights (ii).
Investigation (III): Personal precautionary measures. Preliminary investigation (III): Real precautionary measures.
SUBJECT 9. Subjective delimitation of the criminal action: the indictment and the indictment. End of the investigation.
THEME 10. The appeals system in the investigation phase.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The teaching methodology of the subject will be lectures in which the student will be required to participate through direct questions in order to generate cognitive doubts that guarantee a real knowledge of our subject.
Moreover, the professor will use problem-based learning (PBL) in those topics in which there is a lot of jurisprudence and debate.
Lastly, the professor will bring real cases in the majority of the lectures.
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | COMPETENCES |
|---|---|
| Presentación en el aula de los conceptos y su aplicación práctica | 17 |
| Actividades en el aula para el seguimiento de los alumnos (individual y en grupo) | 03 06 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 |
| Estudio independiente del alumno | 11 17 20 24 |
| Trabajos individuales y en grupo | 04 19 22 23 24 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
First examination
The evaluation of the course will consist of the following:
70% of the mark will be made up by the average of two exams: a first partial exam (eliminatory and which will take place on Wednesday 20th November) and another final exam (date to be determined). The aim of holding an eliminatory partial exam is to make a diagnosis of the students' learning in the middle of the course and for the student to have a first contact with the type of questions they will encounter in the final exam, as they will have the same format. Its eliminatory nature will contribute to the student's daily study and, if he/she passes the partial exam, it will allow him/her to take fewer subjects in the final exam. In order for both exams to be averaged, students must obtain a 5 or more in each of them.
The remaining 30% of the mark will be made up of continuous assessment activities and class attendance and participation. The continuous assessment will consist of two individual activities and one group activity.
In order to pass the course, a 5 or more must be obtained in each of the two previous parts. If this condition of having a minimum of 5 in both parts is not fulfilled, the course will be automatically failed.
Attendance and quality of participation in class will optionally allow the final grade to be increased in order to obtain the Honours Degree.
Second examination
In the second sitting, the exam will count for 70% of the final mark. The structure of the exam will be identical to the final exam. The 30% of the final mark will correspond to the continuous assessment mark indicated in the previous section.
Bibliography and resources
The main resource to study this subject is the Criminal Procedure Law (LECRIM) - consider that this has to be updated to the time in which the subject is taught.
Moreover, in order to systematize the content of this law, the following manual are recommended:
ARMENTA DEU, T., Lecciones de Derecho procesal penal, Marcial Pons, Madrid, last edition.
MONTERO AROCA, J., Derecho Jurisdiccional III Proceso Penal, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, last edition.
To work with the cases, the student will be required to use the legal databases available in the digital library of the University.