Internal Investigations

Internal investigations are a very important tool in the new era of compliance, aimed at clarifying the facts by the organization itself, in order to provide itself with elements on which to structure any corporate criminal defense strategy. They may involve the assessment of a collaborative mitigating factor in an eventual criminal liability of the legal entity, which is recognized by the Criminal Code in its Article 31 quater and recognised by the Attorney General’s Office in its Circular 1/2016, of January 22, on the assessment of the effectiveness of models for the prevention of the commission of criminal offenses. Other standards that also refer to internal investigations are the ISO 19600 of Compliance Management Systems (ISO 37301), the UNE 19601 of Criminal Compliance Management Systems and the ISO 37001 of Anti-bribery Management Systems.

The essential function of internal investigations (whether para-judicial or pre-judicial) is none other than to establish the factual reality of the facts under investigation, enabling better and more informed decision-making by the organization itself. However, what at first sight may seem relatively simple, has complex legal aspects, ranging from data protection to confidentiality, including prescription, among many others, and which require an expert approach.

At Fortuny Legal, we manage and carry out internal investigation processes of any organization, public or private. We develop action protocols and carry out the investigation process, placing special emphasis in respecting fundamental rights, the legal obtaining of evidence, the chain of custody, and the use of Forensic technology, in order to make them effective, all from the independence and objectivity that the legal profession confers to us, and within the framework of the pre-procedural assessment of the legal entity and its impact on the field of professional secrecy.