Article 126 of the Constitution establishes that the Judicial Police depend on the judges, courts, and the Prosecutor's Office on their functions to investigate the crime and the discovery and arrest of the criminal, in the terms that the Law establishes. This constitutional mandate has been developed by the Organic Law 6/1985 of July 1, of the Judicial Branch, in Title III of his book V (Articles 443 to 446), and more recently, by the Organic Law 2/1986, of 13 March, of Forces and Security Bodies, which, in Chapter V of Title II, sets out what it calls "Judicial Police Units".

The need to proceed with the development of this regulatory framework in order to extract all the possibilities that lie behind it, requires addressing the treatment of a wide range of diverse issues, such as those relating to organization, territorial distribution of Organic Units of the Judicial Police, legal regime of the same and procedures or mechanisms of selection of its components. At the service of these ends, the present Royal Decree is directed preferably to delimit the functions of the Judicial Police in the strict sense, that is, those that refer to the clarification of the alleged criminal and identification and apprehension of those responsible, although tangentially it has been necessary to refer on occasion to the generic duty of assistance to the Administration of Justice.

The initial question that has to be addressed in this new regulation is, not to doubt, the very delimitation and fixation of the concept of the Judicial Police that, far from having a single or monovalent meaning, lends itself to interpretations. disparate. For this reason, it has been tried to disallow the general functional consideration that reflects article 283 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, of what must be a modern concept of the Judicial Police as a scientific police that requires the application of principles of organic unity and, above all, of specialisation. Consequently, with these criteria of unity and specialization, the regulation has centered around what Article 30.1 of the Law of the Organic Law 2/1986 of March 13, of Forces and Security Corps, calls Police Organic Units Judicial, integrated well by officials of the National Police Corps, well by members of the Civil Guard, but, in any case, presided over by principles of permanence, stability, specialization and strict subjection or functional dependence with regard to Judges, Courts and the Prosecutor's Office.

Reason for regulation, especially detailed in the third chapter, has been precisely the concreteness and development of the principle of functional dependence that is so clearly stated in Article 126 of the Spanish Constitution. It has thus been designed to establish a close link between the specific police forces which focus their activity around the criminal investigation and the judicial and tax authorities, which has been translated into not only the This is the only way to ensure that they are subject to the guidelines which they set out in the course of their missions, but also to the involvement of those authorities in the fundamental aspects of the organic system of police officers, such as the exercise of disciplinary powers or the granting of rewards, the selective processes for access to specialisation or, even, the territorial distribution of personnel specially assigned to specific judicial bodies.

In this last matter, the fourth chapter of this Royal Decree is specially devoted, which develops the possibility contained in article 30.2 of the Law of the Organic Law 2/1986, of March 13, of Forces and Security Corps, thus the general bases for the allocation of these personnel and the fundamental criteria for their action, the specific territorial distribution of which will have to be made at a later stage by the Ministry of the Interior, with Intervention by the General Council of the Judiciary or the Office of the Prosecutor General of the State, if any. In short, it is a question of the fact that the judicial bodies can immediately have the necessary technical support for the proceedings of criminal investigation in the criminal proceedings before them.

On the other hand the existence of various steps in the organic structure of the Judicial Police that is projected, the independence of the Judges and Courts and the need to make effective the principle of functional dependency are reasons for a system of coordination and unitary management for cases in which criminal investigation has broken the territorial scope of a single judicial body, referring to criminal conduct that produces its effects in the different localities, provinces or regions, and are the subject of procedures carried out by Different courts. For such scenarios, as for the implementation of campaigns to combat crime in general, or in the face of organised crime and, even for the harmonisation of guidelines, the effectiveness of action appears to be necessary. adoption of steering unit criteria that avoids the dispersion of efforts and operational bewilderment. It has been understood that such purposes can be obtained through the configuration at the provincial level of coordination bodies in whose composition members of the Judicial Branch, the Prosecutor's Office and the police structure would be included. The formation of these coordinating bodies culminates in a national organ whose fundamental mission is to establish the main lines of action of the Judicial Police. All this is regulated in the fifth chapter of this Royal Decree.

Finally, the sixth chapter is devoted to the primary matter of the selection, training and improvement of the members of the Judicial Police Units. Important innovations are introduced, such as the establishment of specialization courses to be performed, with the necessary distinction of different levels, both in the teaching centers of the State Security Forces and Corps, and in the The Center for Judicial Studies, and with the intervention of Judges, Magistrates, Prosecutors and members of other legal professions. Without prejudice to the establishment of a system of transitional law, it is anticipated that the possession of the titration obtained through such courses will be a necessary requirement for obtaining a destination in the Organic Police Units.

In its virtue, with the report of the General Council of the Judiciary, on the proposal of the Ministers of Justice and of the Interior, according to the Council of State and after deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting on June 1987,

DISPONGO:

CHAPTER FIRST

From the judicial police function

Article 1. º

The general functions of judicial police correspond to all members of the Security Forces and Corps whatever their nature and dependence, insofar as they must provide the collaboration required by the law. Judicial authority or the Prosecutor's Office in actions aimed at the investigation of crimes or the discovery and insurance of criminals, with strict subjection to the scope of their respective competences, and without prejudice to the provisions of the Article 283 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Art. 2. º

The members of the Security Forces and Corps, in their judicial police functions, shall develop the tasks specified in Article 1., at the request of the Judicial Authority, the Prosecutor's Office or their superiors. police or on their own initiative through the latter, in accordance with the terms set out in the following Articles.

Art. 3. º

Judges, Courts and members of the Prosecutor's Office may, in the absence of Judicial Police Units, be temporarily or in urgent cases and subject to their respective legal and territorial scope. powers, to entrust to the members of the Security Forces and Corps the practice of concrete investigative measures in the terms provided for in Article 288 of the Law on Criminal Procedure.

Art. 4. º

All the components of the Security Forces and Corps, whatever their nature and dependence, will practice on their own initiative and according to their respective powers, the first steps of prevention and Thus, they must be informed of the perpetration of the alleged criminal act, and the occupation and custody of the objects that have resulted from the crime or are related to its execution, bearing in mind all of this in the legal terms the Judicial or Fiscal Authority, directly or through the Police Organic Units Judicial.

Art. 5. º

Anyone who is the law enforcement official who has initiated the investigation, will have to cease in the investigation by appearing to take charge of the Judicial Authority or the Prosecutor in charge of the actions, either directly or through of the corresponding Organic Police Unit, to whom it will deliver the proceedings and the effects of the intervention, as well as the persons whose detention would have been agreed upon.

CHAPTER II

From the Judicial Police Units

Art. 6. º

The Judicial Police, with the composition and structure that are determined in this rule, will develop, under the direct functional dependence of the Judges and Courts and the Prosecutor's Office, functions of investigation of the crime and discovery and assurance of the offender, in accordance with the provisions of the Law.

Art. 7. º

Constitute the Judicial Police in the strict sense of the Organic Units provided for in Article 30.1 of the Organic Law of Forces and Security Corps, made up of members of the National Police and Guard Corps Civil.

Art. 8. º

Such Units shall act in accordance with the provisions of Article 5. of the Law on Future and Security Bodies and subject to the principles and rules contained in the following Chapter of this Royal Decree.

Art. 9. º

The Judicial Police's Organic Units will be structured according to territorial distribution criteria on a provincial basis. They may also be set up in those stocks whose crime rate so advises.

Also, units with scope of action that exceed the provincial, for reasons of criminal specialization or research techniques, will be constituted.

CHAPTER III

Of the criteria and rules of action of the Organic Units of the Judicial Police

Section 1. Of Functional Dependency

Art. 10.

In the execution of their duties concerning the investigation of the crime and the discovery and assurance of the offender, as well as those provided for in paragraphs (b) to (e) of Article 445 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary, the Organic Units of the Judicial Police the officials assigned to them are functionally dependent of the Judges, Courts or members of the Fiscal Ministry who are aware of the subject matter of their investigation.

Art. 11.

Police officers commissioned by the Judicial or Fiscal Authority pursuant to Article 21 for the practice of some concrete investigation will be involved in the development of this to the orders and guidelines that they have received, without the instructions of a technical nature obtaining from their immediate police officers being able to contradict the first ones.

Art. 12.

The law enforcement officials will report on the evolution of their investigations and will pay full attention to the final result of their actions to the Judicial Authority or the Fiscal Ministry that has ordered it, in the terms and form that the same has arranged.

Art. 13.

In the proceedings or proceedings that are carried out by order and under the supervision of the Judges, Courts or Prosecutors, the officials of the Judicial Police's Organic Units will have the character of commissioners of those and, in such a way, may require the necessary assistance from the authorities and, where appropriate, from individuals.

Art. 14.

The actions and actions carried out by the Judicial Units of the Judicial Police will have the value recognized in the Laws and will enjoy the special consideration derived from the membership and the character of the commissioners. of Judges, Courts and Prosecutors.

Art. 15.

[El Comercio] The officials of the Judicial Police's Organic Units will have to keep a rigorous reserve on the evolution and outcome of the specific investigations that have been entrusted to them, as well as all the information which, through them, they obtain.

The breach of this duty will be corrected in a disciplinary manner, without prejudice to other responsibilities to which it may be given.

The reservation obligation shall not prevent, unless expressly prohibited by the competent Judge or Prosecutor, the internal exchange of information within the Organic Unit for the best coordination and effectiveness of the services.

Art. 16.

Officials of the Judicial Police Units may not be removed or removed from the specific investigation entrusted to them, until the end of the same or the procedural phase that originated it, if not by decision or with the authorization of the competent Judge or Prosecutor. Where officials who are entrusted with a particular investigation shall cease to be bound by legally established reasons, their cessation shall be entered into the Judicial or Fiscal Authority for their knowledge.

Art. 17.

Regardless of the powers conferred by the Criminal Procedure Law on the Judicial Authority and the Prosecutor's Office, the Judge or Court of which the officials assigned to the Police Organic Units are dependent. Judicial, or, where appropriate, the competent prosecutor, may urge the exercise of disciplinary authority with respect to those who, when they are founded, understand that their conduct has been worthy of sanction. For this purpose, they may use the reserved information they consider relevant.

In cases where the facts which are the subject of the file are directly related to the conduct of the investigation, the Judge, Court or Prosecutor of which they are dependent shall inform the Commission of the facts as required and may issue any other a report that you consider appropriate during processing.

You will also be able to urge rewards when you consider there are merit to it.

In one and the other case, you will be promptly referred to the statements of the resolutions.

In any case, any precautionary or provisional suspension of the official or law enforcement officials concerned shall be communicated to you.

Section 2. First Principles that characterize your performance and ways in which it is externalized

Art. 18.

[El Comercio] The role of criminal investigation will be the responsibility of the Judicial Police's Organic Units on a permanent and special basis. To this end, they will have the staff and the necessary means for the effective development of their tasks, establishing, in those Units in whose field of action the level of crime will make it necessary, the corresponding teams of Criminal specialization.

Art. 19.

The Judges, Courts or Competent Prosecutors may not entrust to the Judicial Police Units other functions than those provided for in Article 445.1 of the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch, without prejudice to those that are They may be entrusted under Article 33 of the Law of Forces and Security Corps. From the latter, the Provincial Commission Coordination of the Judicial Police will be counted.

Art. 20.

El Comercio] When officials from the Judicial Police's Organic Units carry out criminal investigations, formally committed to an alleged criminal case, but with a prior opening to the opening. of the corresponding judicial action, will act under the dependency of the Fiscal Ministry. To this end, they will give an account of their investigations to the corresponding Prosecutor's Office, which, at any time, will be able to take charge of the address of those, in which case the members of the Judicial Police will act under their direct dependence and shall without delay practice the proceedings which the Prosecutor entrusts to them for the investigation of the crime and the discovery and assurance of the offender.

Art. 21.

The judge or court competent, once the criminal procedure has been initiated, and the Prosecutor in charge of the proceedings, in the cases referred to in the previous article, will be directly understood, and without the need to attend The Office of the Chief of Staff, with the Chief of the Unit, either of the National Police Corps or the Civil Guard, to entrust the practice of any investigation or the carrying out of other missions of the Judicial Police. The requested police officer shall have to have whatever is necessary for the effective performance of the service, participating in the Judicial or Fiscal Authority of the officials who will have to carry out the ordered investigation.

Likewise, the Judicial or Fiscal Authority may order that they appear before their presence, as many times as the specific police officers to whom the Jefatura has commissioned the execution, with the (a) to provide the instructions it deems relevant, to indicate the lines of action and to monitor the performance of its tasks or the evolution of its investigations.

Art. 22.

Exceptionally, to carry out actions or investigations that, due to their transcendence or complexity, require the permanent membership of officials or of media belonging to specialized police groups, not integrated in the a corresponding Organic Unit, or whose investigation should be extended to several provinces with a territorial scope superior to that of the Judicial or Fiscal Authority that orders the investigation, the order will be carried out through the President of the Supreme Court or the Attorney General of the State, the President or Prosecutor of the Hearing National or those of the respective High Court of Justice.

In the case of permanent membership of a specific investigation of officials integrated into the corresponding Organic Unit, in case of discrepancy, the Head of the corresponding Organic Unit will be resolved, prior to Report of the Provincial Judicial Police Coordination Commission.

CHAPTER IV

Of the Judicial Police Units attached to certain Courts, Courts or Prosecutors.

Section 1. Of the composition and regime of the Units attached

Art. 23.

The Interior Ministry, after a favorable report from the General Council of the Judiciary or its proposal, will be able to assign permanent and stable to the Courts and Tribunals that will require it to do so. Judicial Police units specially attached to them. Likewise, they shall be assigned to those Fiscalas that are estimated to be accurate, heard by the Attorney General of the State, and preferably to those with respect to which there is a proposal or favorable report of the State.

Art. 24.

The assigned units of the Judicial Police will form an integral part of the corresponding Provincial Organic Unit in whose structure they will be incardinated and whose material and human means will be dispensed with.

The officials who will integrate them will remain permanently and permanently assigned to them. However, membership of these units may be left without effect by the competent body, subject to a favourable report which, with a mandatory and binding nature, shall be issued by the Provincial Coordination Commission. It will also have no effect when any other legal cause determines your cessation or transfer.

Art. 25.

The Judicial Police Units, especially assigned to courts or prosecutors, should, as far as possible, have their headquarters in their own offices or judicial buildings and Fiscalas. Appropriate premises shall be provided for this purpose.

Art. 26.

Such Units will be assigned to the respective Decanates, in which the function of general coordination will be based, but their direct functional dependence on the realization of specific tasks of criminal investigation shall establish in respect of each court and, in particular, in respect of the Guard and the Prosecutor of the Guard, to whom they shall attend in a preferential manner.

In cases where such Units are assigned to national, regional, supra-provincial or provincial courts or tribunals, the direct dependency shall be understood as referring to the respective President or Prosecutor. Boss.

Art. 27.

The specially attached units shall be composed of both diplomatic and specialized judicial police officers who have passed the selection courses provided for in Chapter V of this provision and other personnel. police not necessarily equipped with that specialized training, for auxiliary and support functions.

Section 2. of the attributions and tasks of the Units attached

Art. 28.

The specially-attached units, in their direct assistance to the criminal courts and in particular to the Court and the Prosecutor of the Guard, will carry out specialized criminal investigations. of a Scientific Police.

Within this scope of functions, you can be entrusted with the following practice:

a) Eye inspections.

b) Contribution of first data, finding of homes and fishing grounds and issuing of solvency or conduct reports.

c) Emission, even verbal, of interim expert reports, but of urgent need to take judicial decisions that do not admit procrastination.

d) Technical intervention in the lifting of corpses.

e) Collection of tests.

f) Immediate intervention actuations.

g) Other similar nature to previous ones.

h) Execution of immediate orders of Presidents, Judges, and Prosecutors.

Art. 29.

When the initial actions taken by the corresponding Unit attached to it, the need to practice a more extensive investigation or to require the use of means of which the one does not have, will be given transfer of the proceedings to the Organic Unit, which will receive from the Judicial Authority the precise instructions and guidelines for the effective completion of the service, without prejudice to the fact that the additional actions may be taken with the collaboration of the officials who carried out the first steps.

Art. 30.

Corresponds to the Head of the respective Unit attached to the specific determination of the officials to assume, in each case, one or other tasks, giving an account to the Judicial or Fiscal Authority of which the order is issued.

The Head of the Unit attached will also maintain with respect to the Organic Unit, of which it is a part, close coordination relations in the interests of the most efficient.

CHAPTER V

From the Judicial Police Coordination Commissions

Section 1. Of Your Composition

Art. 31.

The National and Provincial Committees for the Coordination of the Judicial Police are created in order to harmonize and achieve the unit of leadership in the police forces attached to the criminal investigation.

Art. 32.

The National Judicial Police Coordination Commission will be composed of:

(a) The President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, who will chair her when she attends personally.

b) The Minister of Justice.

c) The Minister of the Interior.

d) The State Attorney General.

e) The Secretary of State for Security.

(f) A Vocal of the General Council of the Judiciary, freely appointed and appointed by the plenary of that body.

g) A member of the Judicial Race appointed and separated by the General Council of the Judiciary, which has at least the category of Magistrate.

In the event of the personal absence of the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, the member of the Commission shall be held by the member of the Commission for precedence.

Art. 33.

The President of the Supreme Court may delegate to a Magistrate of the Second Chamber of the High Court.

The Minister of Justice, in the Assistant Secretary or in the Director General of Relations with the Administration of Justice.

The Minister of the Interior and the Secretary of State for Security, the Director General of the Police or the Director General of the Civil Guard.

The Attorney General of the State, in a Supreme Court Room Prosecutor.

Art. 34.

The Provincial Judicial Police Coordination Committees will be composed of:

a) The President of the Provincial Audience, who will chair her.

b) The Chief Prosecutor of the Hearing.

c) The Judge Judge Dean of the Courts of First Instance and Instruction of the capital of the province.

d) The Head of the Police National Police Corps ' Police Unit.

e) The Head of the Civil Guard's Judicial Police Unit.

Art. 35.

Eventually may be incorporated into the National and Provincial Commissions, for the treatment of specific subjects or to perform tasks of technical assistance and documentation, other Authorities or officials, whose criteria or advice is deemed necessary.

Also, technical committees may be set up for the study of specific topics.

The appointment of the Secretary of the Commission shall be governed by the provisions of Article 13 of the Law of Administrative Procedure.

Section 2. Of its functions and operating system

Art. 36.

The National Commission will have the following attributions:

a) Carry out permanently updated studies on the evolution and development of crime.

b) Issue reports or make proposals for general action plans by the Judicial Police against criminality.

c) Intervening, with strict respect for the principle of judicial independence in judicial proceedings, to unify criteria or to resolve any incidents that hinder the proper functioning of the Judicial Police or any other that may arise in the relations between the Judicial or Fiscal Authority and the Judicial Police.

d) Issue report on the fixing or modification of the templates of the Judicial Police Units, as well as on the material means to the same assignees, adopting the initiatives that it considers relevant to the material.

e) To know of the incidents that may occur in order to the special membership of officials or media referred to in Articles 31.2 of the Law of Forces and Security Corps and 22 of this Royal Decree.

f) Unify criteria and impart instructions in relation to the performance of the Provincial Commissions.

g) Harmonize the actions of investigation of criminality whose territorial scope is beyond that of an Organic Unit.

h) To know in advance of the appointments of the senior officials of the Judicial Police Units at their various levels.

i) Report the preliminary draft general provisions of the Judicial Police.

j) Any other analogous nature or assigned to you in the future.

Art. 37.

The Provincial Commissions will have the following powers:

(a) Those covered by paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of the previous Article, within their provincial scope.

b) To inform on a mandatory basis the requests for the attachment of officials or teams of the Provincial Organic Unit to a given judicial or prosecutor's office for a specific investigation and to have been subjected to it by the Head of that.

c) To inform on a mandatory and binding basis the proposals for the removal of officials belonging to the Units attached to it referred to in Article 24 of this Royal Decree.

d) Apply the guidelines emanating from the National Commission and raise the relevant reports and proposals to it,

e) Inform the rewards proposals and have knowledge of the disciplinary files initiated in the other cases not referred to in Article 17 of this Royal Decree,

f) Any other analogous nature or assigned to you in the future.

Art. 38.

The National Commission will, at least, hold a quarterly meeting.

The Provincial Committees shall meet each month on a monthly basis, at the invitation of their President to set the agenda.

The legal regime of the Commissions will be that provided for the collegiate bodies in the Law of Administrative Procedure.

CHAPTER VI

Of the selection, formed and perfecting of the members of the Organic Units of the Judicial Police

Section 1. General Provisions

Art. 39.

The integration of police officers into the Judicial Police's Organic Units will require a prior specialized training, which will be accredited by the corresponding title obtained after the tests have been exceeded. effect are set.

In order to obtain this title, it will be necessary to be in possession of the diploma issued by the Center for Judicial Studies.

Art. 40.

The aforementioned specialization, with the levels to be determined, will be completed in two phases, of which the first will take place in the Training and Perfecting Centers of the State Security Forces and Corps. second, in the Center for Judicial Studies, with the participation of teachers in both phases of members of the Judiciary and of the Ministry of Fiscal, University and Professors of University and other legal professions.

Section 2. From Training and Improvement in the State Security Corps and Forces Centers

Art. 41.

The Training and Perfecting Centers of the State Security Forces and Corps will intervene in the selection processes through the general courses of access to the respective Corps and the courses of specialization to be established for this purpose.

Art. 42.

In the curriculum of the courses of access to the Executive Scale of the National Police Corps and the employment of the Official in the Civil Guard Corps will be included as many subjects as are necessary for the acquisition of a specialized training, oriented to the development of judicial police functions.

In the curriculum of the courses of access to the other Escalas of the National Police Corps and the remaining jobs of the Civil Guard Corps, at least the necessary disciplines will be included to enable the performance of the judicial police function in a generic sense.

Art. 43.

These teaching centers will also program refresher courses and monographic courses of the Judicial Police in their various manifests, in order to attend to the training of the people and to the improvement of the officials who have to carry out judicial police duties in the relevant Organic Units.

Section 3 of Training and Improvement in the Center for Judicial Studies

Art. 44.

Officials who have passed the specialization courses in the Judicial Police provided by the Training Centers of the State Security Forces and Forces will be able to access the specific courses that are scheduled for the effect by the Center for Judicial Studies.

In this selective process, consideration will also be given to the need to establish two levels of training, respectively, to the upper and lower levels of the Forces and the Security Corps.

Art. 45.

After the course scheduled by the Center for Judicial Studies, the corresponding diploma will be issued, which will enable to obtain the corresponding degree and occupy destinations in the Police's Organic Units Judicial.

TRANSIENT PROVISIONS

First.

All the members of the State Security Forces and Corps that, upon the entry into force of this Royal Decree, are performing judicial police functions, will continue to develop them integrated into the corresponding Organic units, until such posts are covered with specialized officials. They will also be able to access this specialization and to obtain the appropriate diploma, by carrying out the special courses and, where appropriate, decentralised courses, to be established.

The members of the National Police Corps and the Civil Guard who, at the entry into force of this Royal Decree, do not perform judicial police functions, will be able to access the specialization courses of the Study Center Judicial, prior to the completion of internal fitness processes.

Second.

The attributions that this Royal Decree confers on the Presidents of the Courts of Justice will be understood, as they persist, to those of the Territorial Hearings.

FINAL DISPOSITION

This Royal Decree shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State".

Given in Madrid to June 19, 1987.

JUAN CALOS R.

The Minister of Relations with the Courts and the Government Secretariat,

VIRGILIO ZAPATERO GOMEZ