Have you been convicted by a final sentence and don't know if you can still appeal?
A criminal sentence becomes final when no further appeal is possible against it. This occurs because all legal remedies provided by law have been exhausted or because the legal system does not contemplate an appeal against that specific ruling. From that moment, the sentence fully deploys its effects: execution of the penalty, registration of criminal records, and legal consolidation of the conviction.
Finality does not imply, however, that the criminal system absolutely renounces correcting serious errors. Spanish criminal law provides an extraordinary and exceptional mechanism to review final sentences when very specific circumstances occur. This mechanism is the criminal review appeal.
It is not a second chance. It is not a third instance. And it does not serve to reopen a lost trial. But when legal requirements are met, it allows rescinding a final sentence and correcting convictions that, materially, should not be maintained over time.
What is the review appeal and where is it regulated?
The criminal review appeal is an extraordinary and exceptional remedy that allows the revocation of final criminal sentences when a serious material error is evidenced or a cause appears that, had it been known in time, would have led to acquittal or a lesser penalty.
It is regulated in articles 954 to 961 of the Criminal Procedure Act and represents a specific breach of the principle of res judicata, justified only in cases expressly listed by law. Its purpose is clear: to allow that, in ca
How to appeal a conviction sentence in review before the Supreme Court
In which cases can the criminal review appeal annul a final conviction?
When can I file a review appeal?
The review appeal is neither free nor discretionary. The law establishes a numerus clausus of cases in which it is possible to review a final criminal sentence. Outside these cases, the Supreme Court inadmits the appeal without examining the merits.
False or illegal evidence
The review appeal is available when the conviction was based on:
- a document or testimony subsequently declared false,
- a confession obtained through violence or coercion,
- or a punishable act committed by a third party that decisively influenced the verdict.
As a general rule, this falsity or illegality must be declared in a final criminal sentence. Nevertheless, the law relaxes this requirement when the procedure followed to declare the falsity is archived for causes that do not imply a substantive ruling, such as statute of limitations or death of the investigated person.
The logic is clear: if the evidentiary basis of the conviction is revealed to be false, the sentence loses its foundation.
Judicial prevarication
Review also proceeds when a judge or magistrate who intervened in the procedure is convicted of the crime of prevarication, provided that such conduct was determinative for the direction of the verdict.
A procedural irregularity or a debatable legal interpretation is not sufficient. A final conviction for prevarication is essential and that, without such conduct, the sentence would have been different.
Is a review appeal available against a plea bargain sentence?
Yes, but not automatically.
The fact that a conviction results from a plea bargain sentence does not completely shield the ruling from a review appeal. However, the law and jurisprudence are clear: the plea bargain severely limits avenues of appeal, because the defendant has admitted the facts and accepted the penalty.
It is useful to start with a basic idea:
the plea bargain is always a conviction, never an acquittal. By entering it, the defendant expressly waives the right to dispute the facts and the verdict through ordinary channels.
The general rule: plea bargains are not appealable
As a general rule, plea bargain sentences cannot be appealed, neither on appeal nor in cassation, precisely because the defendant’s consent closes the procedural debate. Appeals cannot be used to reconsider what was voluntarily accepted.
Therefore, the review appeal cannot be used to «regret» a plea bargain or to correct a defense strategy that, over time, proves to be misguided.
The exception: when consent was vitiated or a serious material error surfaces
Having said the above, the Supreme Court has admitted the review appeal against plea bargain sentences in very specific cases, when one of these circumstances occurs:
- Facts or evidence unknown at the
Abogado penalista en Madrid (Graduado en Derecho y ADE con Máster de Acceso a la Abogacía), experto en procedimientos complejos y técnicos en Derecho Penal. Cuenta con títulos como el Curso de DerechoPenal Avanzado impartido por magistrados del Tribunal Supremo en el Iltre. Colegio de Abogacía de Madrid.