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Spain might be bringing back in the upcoming months universal jurisdiction, a tool that allows states to claim jurisdiction over an accused person, regardless of their nationality or any other relation with the prosecuting entity. The decision was suggested by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which drafted a bill to restore the system, reported Spanish channel TV Canal Sur on Tuesday.
To implement universal jurisdiction, Spain’s Minister of Justice Dolores Delgado set up on Tuesday, June the 28th, a committee that includes judges, lawyers and human rights activists. The body’s mission focuses on reinstituting the regulation, repealed in 2014 by Mariano Rajoy’s government.
The committee will also examine the possibility of extending the prerogatives of the text that allowed Spanish jurist Batlasar Garzon to launch an international arrest warrant against the former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet in the past. The Republican Left of Catalonia party has already submitted a bill in this regard, reported the TV channel. Manwhile, the Minister of Justice has given parliamentary groups a deadline extending to the 4th of September to present their proposals.
Western Sahara and Hirak Rif, two issues for Rabat
Restoring universal jurisdiction by the Spanish justice is a boon to pro-Polisario Sahrawis who will be able again to lodge complaints against Moroccan officials, just like what happened in 2006 and 2007.
In fact, the judge that ruled in those cases, namely José Ricardo de Prada, is currently a member of the committee created by the Spanish Minister of Justice. One of the associations, taking part in the committee bears the name of Batlasar Garzon, who also served on Spain's central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional.
In addition to the Westen Sahara conflict, Hirak activists and associations defending the popular movement in Europe might seek the help of Spain, especially as some protesters in Al Hoceima and in Nador were able to get the support of the Iberian country.
