Spain Criminal Justice System Essay

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” His thought places the whole world and their own relative criminal justice systems under a colossal microscope. When the world has a whole decides to look under said microscope is when we really begin to see why few countries criminal justice systems have a greater success rate than their counterparts. Focusing our microscope to Spain, their criminal justice system is a work in progress. Their system is “based on the most basic Roman law and further encompasses customary practical safeguards to accused persons.” According to their constitution, which was composed in 1978, they prohibited from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. To ensure detainees rights, similar to across the Atlantic over in the United States, the maximum they can be held in detention is 72 hours. Detainee’s are also obligated to the reason they were arrested, required to have their rights be read to them and have the right to be present at their trial. The country of Spain, as a whole, has abolished the death penalty, but make exceptions for individuals who …show more content…
Spain has an extremely effective prison system; one that many countries, with resources, should look to possibly adopt. Their system is known as a “semi-hierarchical” and is made up of three levels: the Central, the Autonomous, and the Local levels. The Central level operation otherwise known as, the broadest and most dominant is the national level of their prison operations. The Autonomous, relate to regions of Spain which have been given the ability to operate their own facilities. Lastly, are the Local level operations, which are referred to more as “jails” because of their