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Friday, June 26, 2009

Spanish courts to lose most extraterritorial jurisdiction

You may recall that I reported in January that a Spanish court had opened a 'war crimes' investigation against seven IDF officers and Israeli politicians who were involved in planning and carrying out the targeted assassination of Hamas terror chief Salah Shehadeh (pictured) in 2002.

This week, a law passed the Spanish parliament, which is expected to pass its senate quickly, that would drastically curtail the Spanish courts' jurisdiction.
Under the new law, expected to quickly pass in Spain's senate, the nation is narrowing its legal mandate. Although a wide variety of cases that originate overseas may still be brought, they must involve grievances that include a Spanish citizen.

...

Spanish courts, most famously under criminal court Judge Baltasar Garzón, have launched investigations into civilian bombings in Gaza, Chinese mistreatment of Tibetans, and genocide in Rwanda and Guatemala. Such cases already open will be "grandfathered" under the new law – and will continue.

While the Guantánamo torture allegation case in Spain involves one Spanish national, the challenge against the Bush administration legal team does not. It is unclear whether that case will continue.

So the Shehadeh case will be grandfathered in despite the new law, but it is likely to be the last case of its kind - unless a lot of 'Palestinians' are granted Spanish citizenship. I'm okay with them being granted Spanish citizenship - so long as they immediately move there.

Heh.

1 Comments:

At 9:24 PM, Blogger NormanF said...

I wouldn't mind if they all moved to Spain.

Heh

 

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