The Judiciary, Accountability, and Transition to Democracy in Spain

The Spanish transition developed with the continuance of the main institutions of the dictatorial regime. The Judiciary was immersed in a new democratic context without losing the constituting elements of the former authoritarian regime: hidden under the appearance of the judicial neutrality of the old positivist legalism were the traditional acquiescence, servility and legitimization of the statu quo. What were the strategies to purge the judicial institution of its authoritarian legacy? How did the exercise of this institution's control agent (legal accountability) develop in the transition to democracy? The article argues that the purging strategy was external. A renewal imposed from outside through legal and political mechanisms, which was made possible as a result of the new scenario of political opportunity arising after the 1982 elections.