Audiencia Nacional of Spain
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The Audiencia Nacional de España ("National Court of Spain"), is a high court in Spain. Its remit is to try cases of terrorism (and on rare occasions other exceptional crimes). At its inception, it was conceived after the end of the dictatorship to try ETA members and other minor armed groups, such as GRAPO. Even today, most of the cases of terrorism heard at the Audiencia are in connection with ETA. The Audiencia has its seat in Madrid, with jurisdiction over all of Spain, unlike most of the courts which have a territorial bailiwick.
The Audiencia is composed of its President, the Presidents of the Court, and the magistrates that the law specifies for each one of its courts and divisions.
The Audiencia comprises the following courts:
- Penal Court, which is occupied with crimes such as terrorism, organized crime, genocide, etc.
- Appeals Court, which addresses differences between the law and the decisions of the Penal Court
- Litigation-Administrative Court
- Social Court
It is reserved for cases that are deemed national importance by the government of the day. Its decisions can be overturned by the Supreme Court of Spain and the Constitutional Court.
The Audiencia has been marred by controversy throughout its history and has often been accused of being excessive influenced by political pressure and the media.
Baltasar Garzón is a well known prosecuting judge in the penal court. He rose to international notoriety by seeking the extradition of General Pinochet for genocide against Spanish citizens during his dictatorship in Chile. The judge was parodied as an attention seeker who had no case or authority to try crimes committed outside of Spain and beyond the jurisdiction of the Audiencia National.
In recent years, judges Garzon and Grande-Marlaska were at the centre of controversy for ordering the closure of several Basque newspapers (Egin and Egunkaria), a radio station (Egin Irratia) and a monthly magazine (Ardi Beltza). The judges have tried many cases of Basque terrorism but have also been alleged to have cast the net too widely owing to political pressure and have indicted writers, journalists, lawyers and political activists with no proven links to terrorist organisations.
Judge Garzon is also responsible for banning ETA's political wing Batasuna in 2003, and related groups such as Herri Batasuna, Euskal Herritarrok, Jarrai, Segi and KAS. The appeal by Batasuna is now being heard by the European Court at Strasbourg. The judge is believed to have bowed to pressure from Mr Aznar's hardline stance on Basque politics, which resulted in controversial legislation which was tailor-made to outlaw Batasuna. It is alleged that the legislation violates fundamental liberties.
The Audiencia's reputation has been further blemished by its procedure to order incommunicado detention. This has been repeatedly condemned by NGOs and the UN for failing to safeguard the detainee's rights and allowing torture to take place with impunity. The Audiencia has controversially seldom given credence to notorious cases of alleged torture and the fact that enforcement officers who have been indicted of torture by lower courts have later been pardoned by successive governments, does not suggest that the Audiencia will change its procedures anytime soon.
It is alleged that in recent years, the Audiencia has undergone a radical shift from traditional clear-cut cases of terrorism to being an instrument to put out of circulation activists, journalists, intellectuals with a proven record in their involvement in promulgating the independence of the Basque country. In a recent trial, judge Murillo dispensed exemplary jail sentences to dozens of individuals connected to the media who were loosely accused of civil disobedience.
