The Defender of the People/Public Prosecutor Option in Spain
| Published date | 01 March 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002085238004600113 |
| Date | 01 March 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
iii
istrative
and
ordinary
courts,
the
separation
of
powers,
the
rule
of
law,
universal
suffrage,
fundamental
rights,
etc.
Such
is
the
movement
started
by
the
1978
Constitution
whose
legis-
lative
ramifications
are
significant.
It
is
prob-
able that
the
1980s
will
be
favorable
to
a
renewel
of
administrative
law
as
a
result
of
intensive
legislative
activity.
Of
course,
the
problem
is
also
political
since
it
is
unconnected
with
various
policies
to
be
adopted.
The
Spanish
Constitution
and
the
Budget
C.
ALBINANA
GARCIA-QUINTANA
The
present
Constitution
is
of
course
not
the
first
to
contain
provisions
about
the
budget
in
Spain.
This
is
usual
in
parliamentary
systems,
though
budgetary
authority
essentially
belongs
to
the
Executive.
In
any
case,
the
Government
is
constitutionally
responsible
for
preparing
the
general
budgets
of
the
State.
The
procedure
for
their
preparation
is
governed
by
a
law.
Parliament
has
rights
of
examina-
tion,
amendment,
and
approval.
The
right
of
amendment
is
limited
since
any
amendment
involving
more
expenditure
or
less
receipts
must
be
approved
by
the
Government.
Ap-
proval
is,
of
course,
by
statute.
All
that
is
fairly
conventional.
A
difficulty,
however,
arises
in
that
the
Budget
Act
provides
that
the
preceding
budget
must
be
automatically
renewed
if
that
of
the
current
year
is
not
approved
in
time.
This
is
not
mentioned
in
the
Constitution,
but
such
a
renewal
would
be
unconstitutional.
The
estimates
are
approved
every
year
by
an
Appropriations
Act
whose
legal
nature
is
that
of
an
act
of
approval
but
which,
like
any
other
statute,
may
contain
special
provisions.
The
question
which
arises
concerns
the
re-
lations
between
the
Constitution
and
the
bud-
getary
principles
which
are
not
each
time
explicitly
confirmed.
The
principle
of
Par-
liament’s
jurisdiction
is
clearly
stated.
The
principle
of
the
unity
of
the
budget
obviously
raises
many
difficulties.
The
Constitution
limits
it
to
the
&dquo; State
public
sector &dquo;, a
con-
fused
notion
which
in
fact
covers
all
the
public
offices
of
the
State.
The
principles
that
the
budget
should
be
comprehensive
and
yearly
are
also
indirectly
laid
down.
Exceptions
are
attached
to
the
principle
that
the
amount
of
the
appropriations
should
not
be
exceeded.
The
most
striking
of
these
is
in
Article
135.2
of
the
Constitution
which
states
that &dquo; loans
to
meet
payment
on
the
interest
and
capital
of
the
State
Public
Debt
shall
always
be
understood
to
be
included
in
budget
expenditure
and
may
not
be
subject
to
amendment
or
modification
as
long
as
they
conform
to
the
terms
of
the
law
of
issue &dquo;.
Exceptions
to
certain
other
budgetary
prin-
ciples
are
also
provided
for.
For
instance,
under
Article
65.1,
&dquo; The
King
receives
an
overall
amount
from
the
State
Budget
for
the
upkeep
of
his
Family
and
Household
and
distributes
it
freely &dquo;.
The
principle
of
publi-
city
or
openness
is
also
contravened
by
Arti-
cle
72.1,
concerning
the
budgets
of
the
Cortes,
which
they
adopt
autonomously.
An
overall
amount,
of
which
no
details
are
given,
is
thus
included
in
the
State
Budget.
The
Constitution
also
attaches
importance
to
the
fiscal
benefits
affecting
State
taxes,
the
amount
of
which
must
be
entered
in
the
Gen-
eral
State
Budgets
under
Article
134.2.
Article
133.4
specifies
that
Public
Admin-
istrations
may
only
contract
financial
obliga-
tions
and
incur
expenditure
in
accordance
with
the
law.
Aritcle
31.2
states
that
public
ex-
penditure
shall
be
incurred
in
such
a
way
that
an
equitable
allocation
of
public
resources
may
be
achieved,
and
its
planning
and
execu-
tion
shall
comply
with
the
criteria
of
efficiency
and
economy.
The
same
concern
for
con-
trolling
public
expenditure
may
be
found
else-
where
in
the
Constitution.
Finally,
though
the
Constitution
refers
to
the
planning
of
general
economic
activity,
it
mentions
no
connection
between
a
possible
economic
planning
act
and
the
State’s
annual
budgeting.
Such
a
connection
obviously
exists,
but
the
Constitution
has
wisely
left
the
matter
open.
The
Defender
of
the
People/Public
Prosecutor
Option
in
Spain
M.
MONTERO
PUERTO
The
new
Constitution
is
concerned
not
only
with
confirming
fundamental
rights
and
public
freedoms
but
also
guaranteeing
their
exercise,
particularly
by
judicial
control.
The
confirmation
of
fundamental
rights
and
public
freedoms
is
distributed
over
51
of the
169
articles
of
the
1978
Constitution.
The
To continue reading
Request your trial