Examining the Legal Repression under Franco from a Modern Legal Lens
Extensive research by a renowned emeritus professor offers a deeply documented view of how the Franco regime weaponized the law to suppress civil liberties from the Civil War through the late years of the dictatorship. The work lays out a clear pattern: legal instruments were repurposed not to safeguard rights, but to intimidate the population. Through selective application of statutes, the regime created a chilling framework enforced by special tribunals, warning signs, and punitive measures that stretched beyond ordinary policing. The analysis demonstrates how the law was used as a tool of fear, with courts and normative rules transforming into instruments of control rather than guardians of justice.
The author presented the findings in a city venue associated with a major university, in the company of respected constitutional law faculty and scholars from related disciplines. The emphasis in the discussion centers on the legal perspective rather than a purely historical narrative. He argues that the regime systematically deployed a normative arsenal to repress dissent from a legal standpoint, detailing the core features of this approach. The conception of the law rested on pursuing an enemy through a tightly woven network of jurisdiction and special courts, while threats, coercion, and harsh treatment by security forces underlined the state’s authority. Absolute power attributed to the leader, the suppression of rights and freedoms, and the denial of press freedom formed pillars of this framework. The conclusion is stark: political liberty, pluralism, and a division of powers were not present in this legal order, which treated law as a mechanism of domination rather than a shield for citizens. The work emphasizes that the repression was orchestrated through legal structures designed to deter opposition and maintain regime stability.