Spanish Justice is strange. Different from that of Europe. It has several things that differentiate it from all the others. And among them a very basic one stands out: who can accuse of a crime in a criminal proceeding. In almost the entire democratic world, with some nuances, criminal prosecution is a monopoly of the State. The leading voice when it comes to asking people to go to prison –almost always as a soloist– is led by the Prosecutor’s Office: a public and professional institution that is in charge of prosecuting crimes before the courts. Not in Spain. Here we have innovated. We have not only the Prosecutor’s Office but two more types of accusations: the private accusation – that is, the alleged victim – and the popular accusation – that is, anyone who passes by. It’s strange. It’s complex. But it is advisable to understand the issue well before giving an opinion.
Throughout Europe, only in Spain and Andorra (which copied our idea) does popular accusation exist. Any citizen or organization with no relation to the crime can appear before a court as another accusation to request jail against a third party, request evidence, appear at the trial, interrogate the accused or even appeal the sentence. This only happens here. And the origin of this popular accusation is as anomalous as the figure itself. It was born with a crime, at the hands of the sensational press and with the help of an unscrupulous politician. It was at the end of the 19th century, although the story is still very current.
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