The review of the European Court of Human Rights judgments of Strasbourg against Spain by the Spanish Supreme Court in the last five years (2019-2024). First part: criminal jurisdiction

Abstract

This article (which will be published in two parts, the first part about criminal matters, the second one about administrative, civil and labor ones) analyzes in a complete and innovative way all the judgments of review appeals presented before the Spanish Supreme Court in execution of sentences of the European Court of Human Rights of the last five years (2019-2024). They amount to a total of 32 sentences, of which 26 of them have already been resolved and their review has been estimated except in three cases. 6 of them are pending. The article exposes not only the appeal for review, but also what happened after it, in cases in which the judicial review has been returned to the previous instances and a new judgment has been ruled. An investigation is carried out on the way in which the Supreme Court has responded individually to each sentence depending on the specific violation indicated by the Strasbourg sentence, as well as the legal developments and creative solutions, all of them rigorous, given by the different sections of the Supreme Court. Furthermore, behind this list of cases, we can see the problems detected in the Spanish legal system and case-law, which would require action by the Spanish legislator and courts, beyond the specific plaintiffs who have filed an appeal before the ECtHR and subsequently before the TS. On the other hand, it is clearly seen how some rulings have in fact contributed to a profound change in the protection of the Human Rights contemplated in the Convention through the influence of the Strasbourg case-law in the Spanish courts. In matters of criminal law, it is necessary to insist on the need to be heard in the second instance to prove willful when the defendant is acquitted in the first instance.

Summary:
I. INTRODUCTION. THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE STRASBOURG JUDGMENTS AGAINST SPAIN AND THE APPEALS FOR REVIEW BEFORE THE SPANISH SUPREME COURT. II. APPEALS FOR REVIEW BY THE SUPREME COURT IN CRIMINAL MATTERS; 1. Case of Camacho Camacho v. Spain; 2. Case of Pardo Campoy and Lozano Rodríguez v. Spain; 3. Case of Romero García v. Spain; 4. Serrano Contreras I and Serrano Contreras II cases; 5. Case of Atutxa Mendiolea et al. (Gorka Knörr Borràs and Concepción Bilbao Cuevas) v. Spain; 6. Case of Otegi Mondragon et al. v. Spain; 7. The review of final judgments in the draft of the Organic Law of Criminal Procedure of 2020.