When High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon began digging into the crimes of Spain's Franco era he ran into obstacles of the highest legal order.

By Richard Walker

The country's Supreme Court halted his enquiries and criminal proceedings are currently in motion against him.

Now, after fighting the powers ranging against him with every weapon in the Spanish legal armoury, he has brought his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. His legal counsel says it is his last resort.

Without his investigations, argues Judge Garzon, the victims of the four-decade dictatorship are defenceless.

Baltasar Garzon came to prominence after getting Chile's General Pinochet arrested in London on rights charges.

"Outrageous" Spanish behaviour
Garzon's defence lawyer Helen Duffy told the IJ desk she has "asked the ECHR to rule that Spain has violated both the judge's rights and its own obligations to protect judicial independence - a basic rule of law."

"The case is being brought now because bringing a criminal prosecution against a judge is itself a violation of human rights... you should not prosecute a judge for his interpretations of the law... particularly when those interpretetions are based on well-established international and Spanish law ... In these circumstances it really is outrageous to prosecute a judge for his opinion," she added.

If Britain can ignore it...
But is the ECHR  the most powerful court available to Garzon? After all, some countries have refused to respect the court’s decisions in the past.

In one famous case, the UK was told by the court in 2005 to give prison inmates the right to vote.

But the British have so far failed to do as they were told.

Yet, the decision of the court is binding and Spain will be obliged to give effect to it, if a decision rules against it. Helen Duffy fully expects Spain to do so.

The court is expected to decide whether there is a case to answer in the Garzon suit in the coming months.

Download the print version of the International Justice Tribune 125 (PDF file)

Subscribe to the International Justice Tribune