Demand and complaint in Spain
In the judicial field we find ourselves with frequent doubts among our clients, as for example the difference between the concepts of demand and complaint. We explain it in this article.
What is a demand
A lawsuit is a legal action that is carried out mainly within the Civil scope, as for example the demand of divorce. In these cases you are not judging a crime, so there are no 'winners' or 'losers'. In the lawsuits the identity of the person to whom we are going is always known.
According to the Law on Civil Procedure (article 23.2), the appearance in court will be through a prosecutor, except in certain cases.
What is a penal complaint
When we are in the Criminal field (that is, the one related to crimes) we speak of a complaint. For example: Luis is sued against his neighbor Juan for stealing his car. Here we must take into account, in turn, that a complaint is not the same as filing a complaint. The complaints are anonymous, which means that we do not know the identity of the person we are targeting. But if we can identify that person, then the appropriate instrument is a complaint. To file a complaint we must also have a prosecutor, in addition to the lawyer.
It is common to confuse these concepts that we have just pointed out. In fact, I am sure that we have heard somebody speaking in a generic way saying that they are going to 'denounce' another person. But as we have seen, from the legal point of view there are clear differences between all these words. Our mission as solicitors is to help you with any legal questions you may have, so do not hesitate to contact us if you need it.
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