The embezzlement of public assets

Abstract

The article tries to offer a basic knowledge of the current regime of the crime of embezzlement of public assets in the Criminal Code, introduced by means of the reform of this through the Organic Law 1/2015, of March 30. The novelty that we consider most relevant lies in the extension of the assumptions that may now be constitutive of the crime of embezzlement, thanks to the appearance of the modality of unfair administration of public goods, also solving controversial situations that before the aforementioned reform was not clear whether or not they were included in the regulation of embezzlement, which was limited to “public flows”. The article also pursues to make some reflections on the impact that this reform may have on urban-related crimes, taking into account the expertise of the author of the paper, as well as commenting on the application of this new crime of unfair administration of public goods in the recent Supreme Court ruling 459/2019, of October 14, concerning the Catalan secessionist challenge

Keywords:

public assets, own and improper embezzlement, unfair administration, property damage, incidence of the reform of 2015 on the crimes related to urban planning, judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court nº 459/2019 of october 14 on the Catalan secessionist challenge