Have you been a victim of a threatening offence?

What is a threat?

A threat is any action or expression that anticipates a willingness to harm or endanger another person.

This type of offence is a mere activity offence, i.e. it occurs at the moment when there is an expression or an action, but no real injury is necessary to be punished. In the event of injury, it will act as a complement to the criminal offence.

Requirements for an action to be classified as a criminal offence of threats

As established case law has shown, in order to consider that an action falls within the scope of the crime of threats, a set of requirements must be fulfilled:

1. That the conduct consists of acts capable of violating the victim by intimidating him or her with the communication of an unjust, determined and possible evil, of the performance of an action that depends exclusively on the will of the perpetrator.
2. That such expression or act is serious, firm and credible, having regard to the circumstances.
3. That these same circumstances make the conduct sufficiently serious to merit a strong social repudiation, which justifies its classification as a criminal offence.
   
   

What events constitute a threat?

Threat of harm constituting a crime. This type of threat is regulated in article 169 of the Penal Code and consists of threatening another person with causing an evil consisting of a crime such as homicide, injury, abortion, against freedom, torture and against moral integrity, against sexual freedom, honour, patrimony and socio-economic order, to the threatened person himself, his family or other persons with whom he is intimately linked. (Example: I'm going to kill you, I'm going to break your face,...).The penalty to be imposed for this type of threat differs depending on the circumstances:

It is punishable by a prison sentence of 1-5 years when the threat is made by demanding any kind of condition, even if not illegal in nature, provided that the perpetrator has achieved his purpose.

It is punishable by imprisonment of 6 months - 3 years when, even if a threat has been made with some kind of condition, the perpetrator has not achieved his purpose, e.g. “I will kill you if you don't lend me money”. The perpetrator is threatening to commit a crime. Depending on whether he gets the money from the victim or not, the penalty to be imposed, as mentioned above, will be different. 

In the above cases, if the threat is made in writing, by telephone or by any means of communication or on behalf of real entities or groups, the penalty shall be imposed on the perpetrator in the upper half of the sentence. 
In the case of non-conditional threats, i.e. where no behaviour is required from the victim, the penalty to be imposed is 6 months - 2 years imprisonment.

Threat of an offence constituting a criminal offence against a group of persons

This threat is covered by Article 170.1 of the Penal Code and is foreseen in cases where the threats are aimed at terrorising the inhabitants of a population, ethnic, cultural or religious group, or social or professional collective, or any other group of persons.

The penalty to be imposed in these cases is the higher penalty in degree with respect to the penalties provided for in Article 169 PC. - Claims of violent actions by terrorist organisations or groups

Article 170(2) of the Penal Code punishes those persons who, with the same purpose as in Article 170(1), publicly call for the commission of violent actions by terrorist organisations or groups. The penalties to be imposed in these cases are 6 months-2 years imprisonment. 

Threat of harm not constituting a criminal offence

These types of threats are regulated in Article

171.1 of the Penal Code. The article itself states that, taking into account the gravity and circumstances of the act, if the threat is conditional and the condition does not consist of due conduct the penalty can range from 3 months-1 year imprisonment or a fine of 6-24 months.

In the event that the perpetrator has achieved his objective, the penalty to be applied shall be the upper half of the sentence.

Blackmail

This type of offence is provided for in the second and third paragraphs of Article 171 of the Criminal Code.

The modality foreseen in the second paragraph consists of demanding from a third party an amount or reward by threatening to reveal facts concerning his private sphere which are not publicly known and which, if disseminated, could affect his fame or interest. The penalty to be imposed in such cases is imprisonment for 2-4 years if what has been demanded is achieved (regardless of whether it is in part or in full). On the other hand, if the demands are not met, the penalty is 4 months - 2 years imprisonment.

The third paragraph of the same legal precept provides that, in the event that the threat consists of revealing or denouncing the commission of a criminal act, the Public Prosecutor's Office, in order to facilitate the punishment of the threat, may decide not to indict for the crime with which the threat has been made, provided that it is punished with a prison sentence equal to or less than 2 years. If the offence is punishable by a higher penalty, the judge may reduce the penalty by 1-2 degrees.

Have you been a victim of a threatening offence?

If you have been the victim of a threatening crime, the first thing you should do is to report it. Do not hesitate to contact a lawyer who can offer you the best legal advice to help you through the whole process.

Have you been charged with a threatening offence?

If you are accused of a crime of threats, do not hesitate to contact a lawyer who will offer you the best legal advice to defend you. Do not hesitate and contact the criminal law firm Balaguer Bataller, in Barcelona, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.