Meaning and scope of the King’s inviolability

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze both the role that the royal prerogative plays in the Spanish democratic system and its particular legal regime. For that purpose, it will be detached from past or historical conceptions which before justified its existence, trying to find its present foundation in the framework of a democratic Constitution, which will determine the function it is called to play in the Spanish legal order. Then, the paper will explore its legal scope, both in substantive and temporal terms, so as to verify whether it is compatible with the function the inviolability holds and, consequently, if we are dealing with a justifiable prerogative or an intolerable privilege.