The Senate is close to approving a key reform of the fight against illegal occupation of housing. This modification of the Criminal procedure law It will make it possible to process cases of trespass and usurpation within the framework of rapid trials, thus considerably reducing eviction times.
With this new law, Owners will be able to recover their homes much more quicklyleaving behind a justice system that took years to respond to this social problem. In this article we tell you everything you need to know.
The new law: speedy trials to speed up evictions
The reform establishes that the crimes of trespass and usurpation will be included in the rapid trial system, reducing waiting times to a maximum 15 days from the moment the case reaches the court. In this way, owners will be able to see how the legal process is speeding up, a fundamental step to remedy a situation that, until now, has been resolved extremely slowly.
However, it is important to note that although testing will be faster, the expulsion itself will not be immediate. The squatters, once convicted, will still be able to appeal the decision and take the case to a higher court, which could prolong the final resolution.
In other words, even if the reform optimizes the judicial part, Evictions will continue depending on the complexity of the casewhich means that the deadlines will still not be as expeditious as some media had anticipated.
Limits: not all types of squatting will be affected
Although the reform has the potential to streamline many processes, does not cover all types of squatting. The law focuses exclusively on cases of burglary and theft of real estate, i.e. when an intruder occupy someone else’s house by force or when an empty property is occupied against the wishes of the owner.
On the other hand, the phenomenon of concerns –occupations carried out by tenants who stop paying their rent– is outside this new legal framework.
This distinction is crucial, because squatters represent a significant proportion of squatting cases todayespecially since the approval of measures such as the anti-eviction decree during the pandemic.
Therefore, many owners, especially small ones lessors, will continue to face a longer and more expensive processsince these situations are resolved by civil means, a much slower and more complex path.
The path towards the implementation of this law: what to expect from the Senate?
The reform is now in the hands of the Senate, where It should be approved without major obstacles thanks to the majority of the Popular Party. Once this step has been completed, if modifications have been made to the original text, the project will be sent back to Congress for final validation.
Once definitively approved, the law will come into force, which will represent a significant change in the management of evictions, although there are still some limitations that will need to be resolved in the future.
The real challenge, many experts say, will be ensuring that the eviction process Don’t stop at a quick try. The key to effectively resolving illegal squatting could be implementation of more agile measures to carry out the expulsion within a short time after the judgment.
In countries like Denmark or GermanyFor example, eviction after trial is almost immediate, which many consider necessary to effectively combat squatting in Spain.
