9 September 2010
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The Kingdom of Spain is situated in the Iberian Peninsula, which is the western-most
of the three main southern European peninsulas, a large octagonal promontory
in the extreme south-west of the continent. It borders on the Cantabrian Sea,
France and Andorra in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the east, the Mediterranean
Sea and Atlantic Ocean in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal in
the west.
The 1978 Constitution provides that Spain be established as a social and democratic State subject to the rule of law. National sovereignty belongs to the Spanish people, from whom all state powers emanate: legislative, executive and judicial. The political form of the Spanish State is the Parliamentary Monarchy. The King is the Head of State, the symbol of its unity and permanence. He arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations, especially with the nations of its historical community, and exercises the functions expressly conferred on him by the Constitution and the laws. The Spanish Parliament, known as the Cortes Generales, represents the Spanish people and exercises the legislative power of the State. The Cortes Generales consist of two chambers: the Congress of Deputies, or lower chamber, and the Senate, or upper chamber. The Government conducts domestic and foreign policy, civil and military administration and the defence of the State. It exercises executive authority in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. The Government is headed by a prime minister, known as the President of the Government, appointed by the King and invested by the Congress of Deputies. The Government is collectively responsible for its political actions before the Congress of Deputies ( Translator's note: The English version of the Spanish Constitution published on the Spanish Civil Service Ministry's website http://www.igsap.map.es has been used in preparing the translation).
In conformity with the Constitution, the organic law on law enforcement bodies defines the structure of public safety in Spain. Public safety is the responsibility of the State alone, and it is the national Government's role to maintain security, in which the autonomous communities and local corporations may participate through their own security forces.
With regard to the police forces of the Autonomous Communities, only the Basque Country (Ertzaintza), Catalonia (Mossos d'Esquadra) and Navarra (Policía Foral) have chosen to set up their own police forces. However, other communities have units of the National Police attached to their executives for such purposes. The Local Police have over 50,000 officers throughout 1,700 municipal forces. Under construction Under construction
International investigations are channelled through the National International Communications Centre (CENCI).
Justice emanates from the people and is administered on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates members of the Judicial Power who are independent, have fixity of tenure, are accountable for their acts and subject only to the Constitution and the rule of law. The exercise of judicial authority, both in ruling and having judgments executed, is vested exclusively in the courts and tribunals laid down by the law and international treaties. Justice is administered by a single body through the courts and tribunals provided for in the Organic Act of the Judicial Power. The law makes provision for the exercise of military jurisdiction strictly within a military framework and in cases of state of siege (martial law), in accordance with the declaration of martial law and the relevant organic law. The authority of the courts extends to all persons and subjects, and to the
whole of Spain in conformity with the Constitution and the laws. The Supreme Court, with jurisdiction over the whole of Spain, is the highest judicial body in all branches of justice, except with regard to provisions concerning constitutional guarantees, where the Constitutional Court is competent. The President of the Supreme Court is appointed by the King following a proposal by the General Council of the Judicial Power, as provided for by law. The High Courts of Justice are the highest courts on the territory of the respective autonomous communities. The General Council of the Judicial Power is the independent Government body
responsible for the judicial power and has jurisdiction over the whole country.
It is, however, the Government body responsible for all the courts which make
up the Judicial Power. Subordinate to it are the Government Chambers of the
Supreme Court, the National High Court (Audiencia Nacional), the High Courts
of Justice, and the other jurisdictional bodies with government attributions
in their respective areas (Presidents of the Courts, senior judges, committees
of judges, and judges). However, despite being the Government's body of the Judicial Power, the Council is not a jurisdictional body, nor is it part of one. It does not take part in the judicial function.
Spain currently has liaison officers posted with diplomatic missions in Andorra, Algeria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Europol Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Countries which have liaison officers posted in Spain are Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Romania, Russia, United Kingdom and United States.
The Spanish customs service, Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera, is part of the Customs Department (Dirección Adjunta de Vigilancia Aduanera), which is part of the State Tax Office (Agencia Estatal de la Administración Tributaria), itself part of the Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda). The police forces are responsible to the Ministry of the Interior, and carry out criminal investigation. Since the customs service performs some administrative police and criminal investigation duties, co-ordination is provided by specially set-up bodies and mechanisms.
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