Exploring the role of Spanish judges in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
| Author | Carmen Meneses-Falcón,Antonio Rúa-Vieites,Jorge Uroz-Olivares |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1748895820984820 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895820984820
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2022, Vol. 22(4) 601 –617
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/1748895820984820
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Exploring the role of
Spanish judges in the
investigation and prosecution
of human trafficking
for the purpose of sexual
exploitation
Carmen Meneses-Falcón ,
Antonio Rúa-Vieites
and Jorge Uroz-Olivares
Universidad P. Comillas, Spain
Abstract
This study explores the difficulties that Spanish judges face during the judicial investigation and
trial of the trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation. Here, we highlight the issues of
judges’ lack of training and the saturation of the courts due to the excessive work that these
crimes entail. To collect data, responses from 71 Spanish judges were collected through a
questionnaire, and nine semi-structured interviews were conducted in three Spanish provinces
(Barcelona, Malaga and Madrid). Noteworthy findings include the fact that almost half of the
judges had dealt with a case involving this type of crime and that a third ended up closing the
case. In the responses received, the lack of victims’ collaboration in the judicial process was
highlighted as one of the difficulties as was the lack of resources to investigate these crimes and
the involvement of other crimes.
Keywords
Human trafficking, judges, judicial investigation, magistrates, sexual exploitation, victim
Corresponding author:
Carmen Meneses-Falcón, Department Sociology and Social Work, Universidad P. Comillas, c/ Universidad
Comillas 3, Madrid 28049, Spain.
Email: cmeneses@comillas.edu
984820CRJ0010.1177/1748895820984820Criminology & Criminal JusticeMeneses-Falcón et al.
research-article2021
Article
602 Criminology & Criminal Justice 22(4)
Introduction
This study reveals the difficulties Spanish judges confront while investigating and trying
crimes of trafficking. Most noteworthy among them is the lack of training the judges
have in dealing with this crime and the increase in work that it entails for the courts, since
obtaining evidence not based on the victims’ testimony is no easy task.
Human trafficking is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon (involving globaliza-
tion, migration, labour relations, regulation of sexuality, gender inequalities, new com-
munication technologies and the advances in transport) and occurs in different ways or
forms (sexual labour exploitation, committing of crimes, organ removal, etc.). In recent
decades, the governments of Europe have become aware of their responsibility to end
human trafficking both inside and outside their borders, to pursue the traffickers and to
protect the victims. However, Spain has embarked on this task rather tardily, as it was not
until 2010 that this crime appeared in the penal code, in accordance with the Palermo
Protocol. However, it was only in 2015 that all the types of exploitation currently men-
tioned in the Protocol were introduced. This delay may have occurred because Spain rati-
fied the convention in 2003 and did not take on the international commitments until they
were endorsed by the European Union (EU). In other words, European directives and
agreements seem to be a greater priority for Spain than their international counterparts.
Until 2010, Spanish legal regulation related human trafficking to clandestine immigra-
tion, although the two phenomena are different. Thus, a vision of Europe with borders
was prioritized, in which the greatest concern was controlling irregular immigration
rather than preserving the rights of victims of trafficking (Villacampa, 2010). Since then,
there have been few convictions in Spain in this area compared to those related to other
crimes, such as gender violence or drug trafficking. According to the Defensor del
Pueblo, the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office (2017), in 2017, 254 prosecution proce-
dures were initiated for human trafficking crimes. However, among them, only 122 pros-
ecutions had as their goal any modality of trafficking stipulated in Article 177 bis CP,
with 55 criminal groups investigated; this trend is similar to that of the previous years
(2209 and 439 victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and labour exploitation,
respectively, were identified between 2014 and 2017). These numbers are significantly
low compared to other European countries (Eurostat, 2015), all the more so considering
that Spain is a country of transit and a destination for victims coming from various coun-
tries due to its strategic location in Europe. In this context, the following questions arise:
Why is there such a scant incidence of sentences for trafficking crimes compared to other
criminal activities? What are the difficulties in trying these crimes?
Europe has two procedural models (Gascón, 2009): the adversarial model, in which
the investigation is carried out by the police and the public prosecutor without court
proceedings, and the mixed inquisitorial model, with a phase of court investigation that
oversees the police investigation. In both cases, once the investigation is over, the crimi-
nal case is tried by a different judge than the one who presides over the investigation.
Spain follows a mixed inquisitorial procedural model, in which a judge oversees and
instructs to ensure the legal guarantees of the investigative phase.
The literature highlights two factors that require special attention for more effective
investigation and prosecution of the crime: those relating to the victim (Chahín-Pinzón
et al., 2017; Dols, 2012; Huang, 2017; Marcu, 2008) and those relating to the procedure
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