Section 149(6) of the Spanish Constitution establishes the sole jurisdiction of the Cortes Generales over criminal law in Spain.

It accepted the tripartite classification of criminal offenses and regarding guilt is based on the principle of versari in re illicita or "responsibility for the result".

The new code was criticized from its inception for the rigor in the punishment of the prisoner and the frequency with which the death penalty was imposed.

The humanitarian orientation of the new text is manifested in the suppression of the death penalty, in the reduction of the number of aggravating circumstances, and in institutions such as conditional sentence and probation.

The code was complemented by the Vagrants and Raiders Act (1933) which provided for certain dangerous states with both post-criminal and pre-criminal security measures.

In 1983, the new reform introduces the principle of guilt against that of strict liability, updates the general part in matters such as error or crime continued and substantially modifies the special part, incorporating numerous technical improvements.