The National Court has rejected an appeal by the company Sistemas de Seguridad SH Lanzarote and has ratified the judgment issued in September 2014 by the Central Court of Administrative Litigation number 1, which considered it proven that the company committed a serious infraction by not notifying the Police of the robbery that had taken place in the Castillo de San José while its guards were on duty.
Thus, the court confirms the fine of 30,051 euros imposed at the time by the Secretary of State for Security. The company had filed an appeal for "reposition" against this resolution, but the Administrative Litigation Court dismissed it and now the National Court has done the same, also condemning the company to pay the costs generated by both appeals.
The court ratifies that the security company incurred in a "very serious infraction", classified as a "refusal to provide assistance or collaboration with the Security Forces and Corps in the investigation and detention of criminals or in the performance of the inspection or control functions that correspond to them." The ruling recalls that on September 4, 2012, a cable theft was committed in the Castillo de San José, when the security guards of this company were on duty. Although the guards recorded this fact in the report, the Police were not aware of it until September 7, when the manager of the establishment filed a complaint.
"Although it is true that Sistemas de Seguridad SH Lanzarote immediately sent by fax the parts that were requested," the sentence adds, "almost a week had passed without reporting the robbery to the Police Station."
The sentence issued now by the Audiencia emphasizes that "it is convenient to call attention (...) to the idea that assistance or collaboration with the Security Forces and Corps is a requirement that security companies must comply with and that is inherent to their assumption of functions of exclusive state ownership, making it necessary for the Administration to deploy a wide range of controls over them, unthinkable in other sectors of economic activity."
