标题：Supreme Court of Spain (Criminal Division), Judgement of 9.2.2012 – 79/2012(Tapping of conversations between defendants in custody and their defence counsel)
期刊名称：Zeitschrift für Internationale Strafrechtsdogmatik
印刷版ISSN：1863-6470
出版年度：2013
卷号：2013
期号：3
页码：167-169
出版社：Editors of ZIS
摘要：In this case the Spanish Supreme Court, based on a special and exceptional jurisdiction for certain categories of persons (aforados), tried and convicted a well-known member of the Spanish judiciary, Baltasar Garzón, the judge who brought the arrest warrant that led to the Pinochet extradition proceedings in the UK. As a consequence, Judge Garzón was suspended from exercising public office for eleven years, which coincides with his age of retirement. The facts of the case are as follows: Garzón was the judge who conducted an investigation against a criminal organisation involved in illegal payments to various Spanish politicians at local and regional level. As a result of a sting operation, various defendants were placed in pretrial detention. While in custody, those defendants conferred regularly with their defence counsel (court-appointed and otherwise). Garzón issued two orders dated 19.2.2009 and 20.3.2009 to the effect that communications with all defence counsel be wiretapped while the defendants were held in prison. Garzón resorted to a special provision of the General Penitentiary Act that exceptionally authorised this type of wiretapping “by judicial warrant and in terrorism cases”. No terrorism cases were being investigated and Garzón did not provide any indicia that defence counsel were aiding or abetting (much less members of) the criminal organisation. After listening to the conversations, Garzón ordered the exclusion from the transcript of those pieces related to defence strategies.
