Restraining order in repeat trespassing: a milestone in the criminal fight against squatting
A magistrate’s court in Catalonia has ordered the imposition of a city-wide restraining order as a precautionary measure against a repeat offender of usurpation.
In a context in which squatting generates intense political-legal and social debate, the imposition of a measure such as the one described marks a milestone in the fight against a problem that seriously affects property owners and communities, guaranteeing the right to property and citizen security against those who make squatting their modus vivendi.
The resolution adopted is based on article 544 bis of the Criminal Procedure Act (LECrim), which empowers the judge to impose a precautionary prohibition to reside or go to certain places when investigating crimes included in article 57 of the Criminal Code. Traditionally, this rule has been applied in cases of gender violence, crimes against moral integrity or freedom, but not in property crimes such as usurpation.
In this case, the Court considered that the defendant’s recidivist conduct in committing crimes of usurpation in the same city and his apparent lack of interest in the criminal consequences justified the application of an exceptional measure.
The proportionality and necessity of its adoption is essentially supported by the fact that, on the one hand, the person under investigation has not only been convicted by final judgement on multiple occasions for similar acts, but has also been arrested on more than 20 occasions over the last few years by the police officers of the said city, and far from ceasing his conduct, he has aggravated it. All this, posing a constant threat to coexistence and public order in the municipality.
Moreover, the objective of the suspect was not simply to occupy other people’s homes, but to profit from this activity. Thus, his modus operandi consisted of occupying someone else’s property, changing the lock and selling the new keys to third parties, all of which generated and boosted a black market of occupation.
Furthermore, it should be added that the defendant has no roots or links with the city beyond being the place where he carries out his criminal activity.
In conclusion, the application of this measure sets a key precedent in the fight against organised and recidivist squatting: squatting, especially when it is recidivist and lucrative, cannot go unpunished.
Read the article: Un juez prohíbe la entrada a Sant Boi de un ocupa que revende las llaves
Laia Homs