The applicability of universal jurisdiction. Have we forgotten to act as a society?

Abstract

This paper 1 addresses the principle of universal jurisdiction from the perspective of access to justice. This is done in a critical manner, highlighting the victim as the subject who has the right of access to justice. To this end, the content is framed within the general right of access, and then linked to the basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction. This makes it possible to observe how the fight against impunity is the main basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction and is closely related to the right of access to justice. Therefore, in this paper, a review of its particular foundation is carried out, which leads to a focus on the effective access to universal jurisdiction in Spain. Since its latest reforms, the configuration of universal jurisdiction in Spain has become increasingly restrictive and therefore affects the right to effective judicial protection of the victims of certain criminal acts, so much so that it is practically inapplicable. This is the main reason why access to jurisdiction through this principle has been achieved by establishing limitations on access. Limitations which are mainly based on the figure of the victim, but also from the procedural point of view, as applicable assumptions are established which condition the prosecution of the criminal act. With the content provided, various questions are raised, on the one hand, in relation to access to justice in today’s society, as this part considers that it is framed in the efficiency of the procedural system and not in the original meanings. Likewise, the difficulty of the regulatory precept of the principle of universal jurisdiction is raised, for which this part systematises in a schematic way, as well as the pitfalls that a victim of certain criminal acts has to face in view of the conceptualisation of victim granted by our law, as well as their nationality and corroborated in the strict sense by our jurisdictional bodies.