Legal Rules and Social Integration

Posted on Sep 16, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

ITEM 2. STRUCTURE OF THE LEGAL RULES

Legislation on Disabled People: Rationale and Management

The disabled legislation is based on the Spanish Constitution or by other international treaties ratified by the Spanish State. The most important statewide law is the Law of Social Integration of Disabled Persons (LISMI). Its structure is as follows:

  • General Principles
  • Rights-Holders
  • Disability Prevention, Diagnosis, and Assessment
  • System of Social Benefits – Rehabilitation – Occupational Integration, Social-Services
  • Other Aspects, Management, and Financing

General Principles

This section refers to the rights and dignity of disabled people, including those with physical disabilities and profound decreases. Public authorities are obliged to meet their needs in various areas, such as:

  • Prevention
  • Medical and psychological care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Education-oriented and labor-integration
  • Guaranteeing rights
  • Social security guarantee

Holders of Rights

The law establishes the right to a number of benefits for the disabled. The recognition of impairment and the benefits and services to which a person is entitled will be determined in a personalized way.

Prevention of Disability

Prevention measures are divided into the following levels:

  • First level: Counseling and family planning advice, prenatal care, detection and diagnosis, assistance.
  • Second level: Health and safety at work, traffic safety, environmental pollution.

Special attention is given to activities in rural areas.

Integration Work

The employment policy of disabled workers will focus on two axes:

  • Integration into the regular work: Establishing measures to enhance the integration of this group in the regular labor market.
  • Labor-protected: This group should be employed in special employment centers.

Mobility and Architectural Barriers

Measures of accessibility and adaptability of buildings to the concurrence of the public, as well as the development projects of public roads, parks, and gardens are implemented. Staff from different services are involved in providing care and services for disabled people in their process of integration.

Criminal Law

Criminal law is a set of rules within the legal system that ensure a punitive system under control. Principles of guarantees against the criminal justice system include:

  • The principle of legality
  • The principle of minimum intervention
  • The principle of proportionality
  • The principle of culpability
  • Non bis idem principle
  • The principle of humanity to the penalties
  • The principle of legal equality
  • The presumption of innocence
  • The principle in dubio pro reo

Crime

Reckless acts and omissions punished by law are categorized as serious crimes, misdemeanors, and failures.

Grounds for Excluding Criminal Responsibility

  • Underage
  • Mental abnormality or disorder
  • Intoxication
  • Self-defense

Circumstances Aggravating Punishment

  • Acting with malice
  • Using a disguise
  • Committing a racially motivated crime
  • Producing evils and sufferings
  • Breach of trust
  • Being a repeat offender

Pena (Penalty)

Deprivation or restriction of legal goods imposed by the courts.

Prison Rules

  • Closed regime: No relation to the type of crime committed. A prisoner is described in the first degree by considering their extreme danger or lack of adaptation. Within this regime:
    • Closed modules for those who do not fit the scheme.
    • Special departments for those who put another inmate’s life in danger.
  • Normal circumstances: In this scheme are classified all prisoners who are not in the special circumstances leading to classification of first degree.
  • Open-system: Semi-freedom, which is to guide the inmate for reintegration into society. Under this scheme is open to a restricted and applied in third grade.
  • Conditional release: Will be for those who are in 3rd grade, for those who have finished 3 quarters of the sentence imposed, and for those who have good behavior.

Types of Prisons

  • Establishments preventive
  • Establishments compliance
  • Special establishments

Drugs. Possession and Consumption

Being a drug addict is not a crime, and therefore its use is not. However, it is considered an administrative offense in which drugs will be removed and a fine may be imposed.

Drug Trafficking

Traffic, cultivation, and processing of drugs are punishable by law. The penalties are stiff, especially if:

  • The culprit is an officer, authority, social worker, etc.
  • The culprit belongs to an organization or association.
  • The facts were made in public.
  • Drugs were provided to children under 18.
  • The offense occurred in schools.
  • People under 18 or with decreased capacity were used to commit these crimes.

The Aliens Act

The law governing the rights and freedoms of immigrants. It defines the term “abroad” as people who do not have Spanish nationality. It also outlines the ways through which a foreigner can enter the country, which must be made from any of the boundary points that are legally established. Once in Spain, immigrants with a residence permit have essentially the same rights as Spanish citizens. Those without a residence permit have only the right to education, healthcare, social services, and access to justice.

Employment Situation

The work permit can be differentiated into two types:

  • Permit self-employment: An authorization to develop a lucrative business (merchant, industrial, etc.).
  • Work permit as an employee: An authorization to perform lucrative activities. Lasts less than five years and may be limited to a particular territory.

The Status of the Child

Legally, no distinction is made between a newborn and a young person of 10, 12, or 17 years because a person under the age of majority is considered not to have full capacity to act freely and voluntarily. Two areas of intervention can be set:

  • The scope of protection: Determined by the neglect of the rights the child has recognized.
  • The scope of liability: Determined by the fact that even the smallest infraction can be subject to criminal law.

Measures to Facilitate the Exercise of the Rights of Children

Children have the right to receive government assistance for the effective and proper exercise of their rights. The guiding principles are:

  • The supremacy of the interests of the child.
  • Maintenance in the family.
  • Family and social integration of the child.

Performance in Situations of Vulnerability of the Child

The law governs the general principles of conduct in situations of social vulnerability, including risk situations and hardship.

The Reception

Foster care is a figure that gives custody of a minor to a person or family. Three types exist:

  • Single-family foster care
  • Permanent foster care
  • Pre-adoptive foster care

Criminal Liability of the Minor

Through the Act of January 12 and the law of December 22, minors are tried through a procedure that protects fundamental rights throughout the process. The countermeasures are educational measures.

The Scope of the Law

Two limits are established for the application of this law:

  • Under 14 years: If a child of this age commits a crime, the answer will never be criminal, since the law provides for the protection of minors. Measures shall be implemented only if necessary, and civil liability will fall on the child’s legal guardian.
  • Over 14 and under 18 years: May be declared criminally liable. There are two age groups (14-15 and 16-17 years). For those under 16, the term of the measures may reach five years if the offense was violent or posed a serious risk to life or physical integrity. This possibility does not occur when the minor is between 14 and 15.

Phases

  • Instruction phase: Takes place in the prosecution and includes:
    • Preliminary stage, after commissioning knowledge of the facts.
    • Customer records, notification will remind the child and their legal representatives.
    • Conclusion of the investigation, prosecutors referred the case.
  • Hearing phase: Takes place in the juvenile court and includes:
    • Intermediate stage, the juvenile judge may decide to proceed, inhibition to another court or further processing. If the lawyer and the youngest are satisfied, the sentencing judge proceeds.
    • Conclusion of the hearing, the evidence offered by the parties is presented and declared relevant.
    • Ruling, the juvenile court shall pronounce a sentence within five days from the statement. This can be appealed.
  • Implementation phase: Includes precautionary measures and final action, in open-measures.

Act Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence

The Procedure

  • A protective order is requested.
  • The application is filed in the police station, civil guard, or court.
  • The request is received in the police court, and the judge summons the parties and resolves the actions requested.
  • The order is entered in the national registry for the protection of victims of domestic violence.
  • The order is communicated to the victim, the prosecutor, and the public administration.
  • The victim is informed of the status of the precautionary measures taken.

Simple Operation

The judge gives the order of protection which contains:

  • Civil-criminal action
  • Social measures

Order the Full Protection of Victims

These measures provide physical protection to prevent the aggressor from approaching the victim, legal protection through the allocation of family housing, granting of custody of children, and establishment of an interim regime, and social protection.