The European Court of Human Rights has held that Spain breached Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention in its handling of allegations by two Spanish women who claimed they were drugged and raped in December 2016. The applicants, A.J. and L.E., awoke undressed in an apartment with no memory of the night but with the sensation that sexual intercourse had taken place. A medical examination triggered the national protocol for suspected chemical submission and the police commenced an investigation.
The two suspects admitted sexual relations but asserted that the encounter had been consensual. Formal proceedings began in January 2017 and restraining orders were imposed. During the investigation it emerged that one suspect was the brother-in-law of a police officer within the unit assigned to the case. The proceedings were further undermined by the disappearance and destruction of potentially decisive digital evidence while in police custody. This included a forensic report on a suspect’s mobile phone that vanished after being transferred from the national forensic laboratory, incomplete or tampered CCTV footage from the bar where the parties met, and an external drive containing phone data that had been wiped despite a judicial preservation order.
Although the domestic courts accepted that the applicants’ accounts were credible and raised concerns about irregularities in evidence handling, they concluded that the remaining material was insufficient to prove non-consensual intercourse or the administration of incapacitating substances. The principal investigation was closed in 2021, with subsequent appeals dismissed.
The Strasbourg Court acknowledged the existence of an adequate statutory framework and noted that the authorities acted promptly at the outset. However, it found that the loss and manipulation of digital evidence represented grave failures that critically weakened the investigation, particularly in the context of alleged chemical submission where timely preservation of communications and recordings is essential. The Court also highlighted deficiencies in the independence of the inquiry, given both the familial link between an investigating officer and a suspect and the fact that later misconduct investigations were assigned to the same judicial and police bodies involved initially.
The Court determined that the cumulative failings could not be regarded as isolated errors and that the steps taken by the authorities had not mitigated the evidential gaps. It therefore held that Spain had failed to conduct an effective investigation capable of securing accountability for serious sexual violence. Each applicant was awarded 20,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages, along with a joint award of 5,000 euros for costs and expenses.