Inspection Procedure and Criminal Trial. Unresolved problems in the double instruction of offences against the national treasury in the Kingdom of Spain

Abstract

The present study analyzes the existing relationships in Spanish statutory law by which instructions for debt regularization and trials for offences against the National Treasury are coordinated. It shows that the applicable regulations do not establish technical conditions that precisely express the rights, duties and guarantees to be observed in the two spheres. In this context we analyze the concept and effects of "Notitia criminis" in the Tax Inspection procedure in force in Spain; the nature, content and scope of the transfer of "share of guilt"; and the operability and limits of the right not to self-incriminate in the debt regularization procedure. These are central problems in any regulation established to coordinate relations between administrative procedures and
criminal trials.