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The objective of this article is to analyze the technical novelties brought by the project of standardized regulation UNE 19601 on criminal risks management systems (version published on 8 February 2017 for public consultation). This paper will (i) contextualize the UNE 19601 in the Spanish current criminal compliance scene; (ii) examine the regulation's specificities and explain the requisites that are not directly issued from article 31 bis of the Spanish criminal Code, and (iii) briefly explain the audit procedure that may conclude with a conformity certification, if successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 5 October 2015, Law 41/2015 amending the Criminal Procedure for the acceleration of criminal justice and the strengthening of procedural safeguards was passed. Among other measures, Law 41/2015 introduces maximum time limits for the investigation stage of criminal proceedings. This paper sets out an initial approach to the way these time limits are expected to apply in practice and assesses their impact on the way criminal proceedings are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 20th, 2013, the Cabinet passed the draft amendments to the Criminal Code, which carry out a comprehensive reform of the system of criminal liability of legal persons and include a new offense, consisting of the breach of the duty of supervision or control, whose potential offenders are managers/directors or legal representatives of the legal person. As a consequence, this paper addresses the most significant issues of the current system of criminal liability of legal persons, the main amendments that have been proposed regarding the system, as well as the structure, scope and limits of the new offense that managers of legal persons may commit, which is expected to be included in the new Criminal Code, under article 286.6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic Law 7/2012, passed by the Spanish Parliament on December 27th 2012, has substantially changed the regulation of tax fraud in the Spanish Criminal Code. Among other things, this Act of Parliament has changed the legal nature and requirements of the defence of regularization, has introduced new aggravating circumstances that widen the statute of limitations to ten years, and has provided the Spanish Tax Authorities with new tools that intend to ease the prosecution of these crimes. This paper studies in detail all the changes brought by Basic Law 7/2012, analyzing them in the context of the changes both in statutory and case law that have taken place in the last twenty years, and describes the practical problems that may arise when the new regulation is enforced. The conclusion of this analysis is that the reform enacted in Basic Law 7/2012 is another step in the criminalization of breaches of tax rules, sets inconsistent criteria that generally play against taxpayers and increases legal uncertainty. All this entails a significant increase in the legal and compliance risks that corporations doing business in Spain must face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]