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Spain congress urges limits to universal jurisdiction claims

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Spain's Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament, passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday aimed at limiting the exercise of universal jurisdiction over foreign nations in Spanish courts to those cases in which there is no current domestic investigation underway and where there exists a clear connection to Spain. The requisite connection to the country would include cases against Spanish citizens or people physically in Spain or cases involving Spanish victims. The call for such a limit reflects pressure from some foreign governments including Israel and the US whose officials have been targeted by Spanish investigations. The resolution was originally proposed by the opposition Popular Party (PP) but is also supported by the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and is likely to result in legislation. Human rights groups have spoken out against the resolution, maintaining that this will only result in more impunity. Universal jurisdiction gives Spain jurisdiction over foreign torture, terrorism and war crimes if the case is not subject to the legal system of the country involved. Earlier this month, a Spanish judge said that he would ask the US about possible plans to prosecute six former US government lawyers for their alleged contributions to acts of torture at Guantanamo Bay before deciding whether to proceed with his own investigation. The judge had taken the case over from Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon who opened an additional investigation into alleged torture in Guantanamo based on complaints by four former detainees. Another Spanish judge recently ordered investigations to continue into alleged crimes against humanity committed in a 2002 Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip that implicates former Israeli defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six soldiers. Israel responded to the Spanish investigation, claiming that it was fully capable of conducting its own investigations into alleged violations of national and international law. The Spanish courts previously invoked the principle of universal jurisdiction to indict former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).