Letters: Garzón's extraordinary contribution to law
As human rights lawyers, we express our grave concern at the decision of the Spanish supreme court to ban Judge Baltasar Garzón from judicial office for 11 years for having authorised the wiretapping of communications between detainees and lawyers in the course of an investigation into high-profile crime and political corruption involving members of Spain's ruling party (Report, 14 February). Irrespective of human rights implications of wiretapping in such circumstances, we believe there are serious grounds for believing that Judge Garzón has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Since he was appointed magistrate of the Spanish Audiencia Nacional in 1988, Judge Garzón has fearlessly and successfully investigated significant cases relating to drug-trafficking, terrorism (including state-sponsored death-squads used by the Spanish government), organised crime, money-laundering and political corruption, putting his and his family's lives at risk.
His contribution to international human rights law has been extraordinary. A pioneer of the concept of universal justice, he ordered the arrest of General Pinochet in 1998, and investigated the Chilean and Argentinean dictatorships for crimes against humanity. In 2006, he declared himself competent to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Franco regime. The Spanish supreme court prosecuted him for this in 2009, even though the DPP's view was that he had not acted criminally. This fact, coupled with the limited changes undergone by the Spanish judiciary since Franco, make it difficult not to believe that Judge Garzón is the victim of a witch-hunt.
His case raises concerns for the rule of law. Judge Garzón has consistently acted without fear or favour to advance international human rights law. His is a great loss not only to Spain, but to the whole system of international justice. We fervently hope he will succeed in vindicating his name.
Hilkka Becker Solicitor, Immigrant Council of Ireland
Ángel Bello Cortés Solicitor, Kelleher-O'Doherty solicitors
Maureen Cronin Barrister
Anthony Paul Farley James Campbell Matthews Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, Albany Law School, USA
Nuno Ferreira Lecturer in law, University of Manchester
Fiona Finn CEO NASC, Irish immigrant Support Centre
Anthony Hanrahan Barrister
Dr Tim Kaye Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law, USA
Rosemary Kingston-O'Connell Senior solicitor
Albert Llussà Solicitor & Advocat, Daly Lynch Crowe & Morris solicitors
Michael Lynn Barrister
Ruadhán Mac Aodháin Barrister
Aoife McMahon Barrister
Michael McNamara Barrister & TD
Elizabeth Mitrow Solicitor, Terence Lyons solicitors
Professor Ray Murphy Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights
Luz E Nagle Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law, USA
Conor Ó Bríain Solicitor, Conor Ó Bríain solicitors
Donncha O'Connell Barrister and lecturer in law, NUI Galway
Colm O'Dwyer Barrister
Garry O'Halloran Barrister
Paul O'Shea Barrister
Caoimhe Sheridan LLM
Colin Smith Barrister
Iyiola Solanke Senior lecturer, University of Leeds
Mark Symes Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Natsu Taylor Saito Professor of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Cathy Lisa Schneider Associate professor, American University, Washington DC
Vinodh Jaichand Professor of Human Rights, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg