BOOK SECOND.

THE SUMARIO.

TITLE FIRST.

THE DENUNCIATION.

ART. 259. He who shall be present at the commission of any public crime shall be obliged to inform immediately the nearest judge of examination, municipal judge, or official, under a penalty of not less than 12.50 or more than 125 pesetas.

ART. 260. The obligation established in the foregoing article does not include infants nor those who are not in the full enjoyment of their

reason.

ART. 261. Nor shall the following be obliged to make a denunciation:

1. The spouse of the delinquent.

2. The ascendants and descendants by consanguinity or affinity of the delinquent and his collateral relatives by consanguinity or uterine, and by affinity up to and including the second degree.

3. The natural children with regard to the mother in every case, and with regard to the father when acknowledged, as well as the mother and the father in similar cases.

ART. 262. Those who, by reason of their position, profession, or trade, should have information of some public crime, shall be obliged immediately to denounce the same to the public prosecutor, the court of competent jurisdiction, the judge of examination, and, in his absence, the municipal judge or the police officer nearest to the place, if a flagrant crime be involved.

Those who shall fail to comply with this obligation shall incur the fine prescribed in article 259, which shall be imposed as a matter of discipline.

If the failure to give such information should be incurred by a professor of medicine, surgery, or pharmacy, and the crime of those included in that title of the Penal Code which treats of crimes against the person, or on account of a fictitious birth, or the death of an abandoned infant, the fine shall not be less than 62.50 pesetas.

If the person failing to give the information be a public employee, his immediate superior shall also be informed for the proper administrative purposes.

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Lo dispuesto en este artículo se entiende cuando la omisión no produjere responsabilidad con arreglo á las leyes.

ART. 263. La obligación impuesta en el párrafo primero del artículo anterior no comprenderá á los abogados ni á los procuradores respecto de las instrucciones ó explicaciones que recibieren de sus clientes. Tampoco comprenderá á los eclesiásticos y ministros de cultos disidentes respecto de las noticias que se les hubieren revelado en el ejercicio de las funciones de su ministerio.

ART. 264. El que por cualquier medio diferente de los mencionados tuviere conocimiento de la perpetración de algún delito de los que deben perseguirse de oficio, deberá denunciarlo al ministerio fiscal, al tribunal competente ó al juez de instrucción ó municipal, ó funcionario de policía, sin que se entienda obligado por esto á probar los hechos denunciados ni á formalizar querella.

El denunciador no contraerá en ningún caso otra responsabilidad que la correspondiente á los delitos que hubiese cometido por medio de la denuncia ó con su ocasión.

ART. 265. Las denuncias podrán hacerse por escrito ó de palabra, personalmente ó por medio de mandatario con poder especial.

ART. 266. La denuncia que se hiciere por escrito deberá estar firmada por el denunciador; y si no pudiere hacerlo, por otra persona á su ruego. La autoridad ó funcionario que la recibiere rubricará y sellará todas las hojas á presencia del que la presentare, quien podrá también rubricarla por sí ó por medio de otra persona á su ruego.

ART. 267. Cuando la denuncia sea verbal, se extenderá un acta por la autoridad ó funcionario que la recibiere, en la que, en forma de declaración, se expresarán cuantas noticias tenga el denunciante relativas al hecho denunciado y á sus circunstancias, firmándola ambos á continuación. Si el denunciante no pudiere firmar, lo hará otra persona á su ruego.

ART. 268. El juez, tribunal, autoridad ó funcionario que recibieren una denuncia verbal ó escrita harán constar por la cédula personal, ó por otros medios que reputen suficientes, la identidad de la persona del denunciador.

Si éste lo exigiere, le darán un resguardo de haber formalizado la denuncia.

ART. 269. Formalizada que sea la denuncia, se procederá ó mandará proceder inmediatamente por el juez ó funcionario á quien se hiciese á la comprobación del hecho denunciado, salvo que éste no revistiere carácter de delito, ó que la denuncia fuere manifiestamente falsa. En cualquiera de estos dos casos el tribunal ó funcionario se abstendrán de todo procedimiento, sin perjuicio de la responsabilidad en que incurran si desestimasen aquélla indebidamente.

The provisions of this article are understood to apply when the omission does not produce any liability in accordance with law.

ART. 263. The obligation imposed by the first paragraph of the foregoing article does not include attorneys or solicitors with regard to the instructions or explanations they may receive from their clients. Neither shall it include ecclesiastics or ministers of dissenting cults with regard to information revealed to them in the exercise of the duties of their ministry.

ART. 264. He who, by any means different from those mentioned, should have information of the commission of any crime of those which are prosecuted at the instance of the Government, must denounce it to the public prosecutor, the court of competent jurisdiction, or to the municipal or examining judge, or police official, without being considered bound thereby to prove the acts denounced or to make a formal complaint.

The denouncer shall in no case incur any other liability than that pertaining to the offenses he may have committed by means of the denunciation or on the occasion thereof.

ART. 265. The denunciation may be made in writing or orally, in person or through an agent with a special power therefor.

ART. 266. A written denunciation must be signed by the denouncer; and if he be unable to do so, by some other person at his request. The authority or official receiving the same shall rubricate and stamp every sheet thereof in the presence of the person presenting it, who may also rubricate it in person or through another person at his request.

ART. 267. If the denunciation be verbal, a memorandum shall be made by the authority or official receiving the same, in which, in the form of a declaration, shall be stated all the information which the denouncer may have as to the act denounced and its circumstances, both subscribing the same. If the denouncer be not able to sign, another person shall do so at his request.

ART. 268. The judge, court, authority, or official who shall receive a written or verbal denunciation shall require proof of the identity of the person of the denouncer by his personal cedula or by other means which they may consider sufficient.

If the denouncer so require, they shall give him an acknowledgment of his having formally made the denunciation.

ART. 269. After the denunciation has been formally made, the judge or official to whom it is made shall immediately proceed to verify the act complained of or order that this be done unless said act be not a crime or the denunciation be manifestly false. In either case the court or official shall abstain from taking any proceedings, without prejudice to the liability they may incur if they improperly ignore said denunciation.

TITULO II.

DE LA QUERELLA.

ART. 270. Todos los ciudadanos españoles, hayan sido ó no ofendidos por el delito, pueden querellarse, ejercitando la acción popular establecida en el artículo 101 de esta ley.

También pueden querellarse los extranjeros por los delitos cometidos contra sus personas ó bienes, ó las personas ó bienes de sus representados, previo cumplimiento de lo dispuesto en el artículo 280, si no estuvieren comprendidos en el último párrafo del 281.

ART. 271. Los funcionarios del ministerio fiscal ejercitarán también, en forma de querella, las acciones penales en los casos en que estuvieren obligados con arreglo á lo dispuesto en el artículo 105.

ART. 272. La querella se interpondrá ante el juez de instrucción competente.

Si el querellado estuviese sometido por disposición especial de la ley á determinado tribunal, ante éste se interpondrá la querella.

Lo mismo se hará cuando fueren varios los querellados por un mismo delito ó por dos ó más conexos, y alguno de aquéllos estuviese sometido excepcionalmente á un tribunal que no fuere el llamado á conocer por regla general del delito.

ART. 273. En los casos del artículo anterior, cuando se trata de un delito infraganti ó los que no dejan señales permanentes de su perpetración, ó en que fuere de temer fundadamente la ocultación ó fuga del presunto culpable, el particular que intentare querellarse del delito podrá acudir desde luego al juez de instrucción ó municipal que estuviere más proximo, ó á cualquier funcionario de policía, á fin de que se practiquen las primeras diligencias necesarias para hacer constar la verdad de los hechos y para detener al delincuente.

ART. 274. El particular querellante, cualquiera que sea su fuero, quedará sometido para todos los efectos del juicio por él promovido al juez de instrucción ó tribunal competente para conocer del delito objeto de la querella.

Pero podrá apartarse de la querella en cualquier tiempo, quedando, sin embargo, sujeto á las responsabilidades que pudieran resultarle por sus actos anteriores.

TITLE II.

THE COMPLAINT OR INFORMATION.

ART. 270. Any Spanish citizen, whether injured or not by the crime, may make a complaint, exercising the popular right of action established by article 101 of this law.

Foreigners may also make complaints for crimes committed against their persons or property, or the persons or property of their principals, after complying with the provisions of article 280, if they be not included in the provisions of the last paragraph of article 281.

ART. 271. Public prosecutors shall also exercise, in the form of informations, penal actions in cases in which they should be obliged to do so in accordance with the provisions of article 105.

ART. 272. The complaint shall be made before the judge of examination of competent jurisdiction.

If the person charged in the complaint be subject by a special provision of the law to a specific tribunal, the complaint shall be made before the latter.

The same shall be done if there be several persons charged with the same crime, or with two or more connected crimes, and one of them be subject exclusively to one tribunal, and said tribunal be not that called upon to take cognizance of the crime as a general rule.

ART. 273. In the cases of the foregoing article, if a flagrant crime be involved or some crime which does not leave any permanent marks of its commission, or in which there is good reason to fear the concealment or flight of the presumed criminal, the private individual desiring to file a complaint charging the crime may at once apply to the nearest judge of examination or municipal judge, or to any police official, for the purpose of having the first steps taken which may be necessary to ascertain the truth of the facts and for the detention of the delinquent.

ART. 274. The private complainant, whatever jurisdiction he be subject to, shall be subject for all the purposes of the action instituted by him to the judge of examination or court having jurisdiction of the crime which is the subject-matter of the complaint.

But he may abandon the complaint at any time, but shall nevertheless be subject to the liabilities which he might have incurred by reason of his previous acts.