The PSOE has registered this Friday in the Congress of Deputies a bill with which it tries to put an end to the poor exercise of the popular accusation, judicial cases with political motivations, the pronouncements of judges and prosecutors on judicialized matters and crimes. of offenses against religious feelings. This is the proposal for an Organic Law on the Guarantee and Protection of Fundamental Rights against Harassment Derived from Abusive Judicial Actions.
The reform proposes the modification of the Royal Decree of September 14, 1882, which approves the Criminal Procedure Law, the suppression of article 525 of the Civil Code and the reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary.
These are the main points that the bill addresses:
Suppression of the crime of offenses against religious feelings
The law proposes that article 525 of the Penal Code, which refers to the crime of offenses against religious feelings, be repealed. The explanatory memorandum mentions that European jurisprudence considers that freedom of expression also covers ideas that offend. “From this perspective, the crime provided for in article 525 of the Penal Code has a difficult time fitting into the doctrine established by the ECtHR, and its repeal is opportune, in order to align Spanish legislation with that of several neighboring countries and to guarantee that public and legitimate criticism can be made of the dogmas of faith, beliefs and rites of a religion, which is the minimum required in a democratic State,” the text states.
Prohibition of carrying out popular accusations against related parties and associations
The reform, as established in its article 2, will require the modification of the Royal Decree of September 14, 1882 by which the Law of Criminal Procedure is approved “in order to modulate the exercise of popular action in accordance with the mandate constitutional”. On the one hand, it recognizes Spanish citizens who are not directly offended or harmed by the crime the possibility of exercising popular action and extends this power to citizens of the European Union who have residence in Spain and to private legal persons who have as its object the defense of diffuse or general interests.
On the other hand, “political parties and associations or foundations linked to them”, “legal persons or public entities of any kind and, in particular”, the Government and the General Administration of the State, the governments may not exercise popular action. of the autonomous communities and those of the local entities and their respective Administrations. It would also be restricted to members of the judicial or prosecutorial careers and professional associations of judges and prosecutors, among others. The modification also eliminates the exclusion of the aforementioned family members from carrying out criminal proceedings.
A “concrete link”
The new norm also requires that in order to appear as a popular accusation there is “a concrete, relevant and sufficient link with the public interest protected in the corresponding criminal process.”
Inadmissibility of complaints based on hypotheses or press clippings
It is established that “the judge will inadmiss the complaint in a reasoned resolution when any of the causes of the first section occur. The same will apply when the complaint is based on mere hypotheses without a minimum foundation of credibility, or on journalistic information or information contained in any media or communication or dissemination channel without other data or factual elements that serve to substantiate the facts reported.
The popular accusation is assigned to the oral trial phase
Article 277 bis would be added to the Criminal Procedure Law, with which the popular accusation in judicial cases is assigned to the oral trial phase and the initial formulation of the complaint and not to the investigation.
Reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary
The explanatory memorandum sets out the intention to “avoid the attempt to influence the Administration of Justice, urging judges and magistrates to take a political position. This can not only affect the right to an impartial judge, an indispensable content of the fundamental right to effective judicial protection, but also the image of independence of the Judiciary and, consequently, the political cohesion around the Social and Democratic State. of Law”, says the explanatory statement.
With the new law, the Organic Law of the Judiciary would therefore be reformed to include a new cause for abstention or recusal, in such a way that when a judge or magistrate has publicly made statements in favor of or against political parties, unions, associations or other public or private entities, may not participate in a process in which these people or organizations are part.
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