Supreme Court Position Regarding the Implementation of International Law Crimes of the Past in Spain: a Legal Analysis after Reports of the un Working Group on Enforced Disappearance, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the un Special Rapporteur

Along with the undeniable importance of the case, the judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court in the trial against Judge Baltasar Garzón accused of prevarication, having declared itself competent to investigate complaints for crimes committed during the Civil War and the Franco’s regime, it has had a determining significance: from then to now, the doctrine of the High Court has been almost literally followed by the remaining Spanish courts against any complaint concerning to crimes com- mitted before the last transition to democracy in Spain. This state of affairs has been repeatedly criticized by various bodies of the United Nations, expressly by the three that have visited Spain more recently: The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Repetition. In this contribution will be presented and analysed transcendent positions defended by the Supreme Court regarding the application of international law to the past crimes in Spain and especially its configuration as crimes against humanity, the legal assessment about the enforced disappearance, and the validity and application of the 1977 Amnesty Law.