Matar a un ruiseñor: la Criminal Justice Act inglesa de 2003 y el non bis in idem

Abstract

On January 3, 2012, a judgment was pronounced in England that has shaken British and American scholars. This judgment was based on a law authorizing English courts to skip in certain cases some of the principles of law that are considered extremely valuable, such as double jeopardy, res judicata , and non - retroactivity. The statute on which the opinion is based is the Criminal Justice Act 2003, and, even though it was not applied for the first time in January of 2 012, the 2012 judgment is symbolic because the law was practically written to cope with a single case. England has a strong legal tradition and has produced several top philosophers of the Western legal system. Keeping that in mind, the reasoning that led England to take that step merits deliberate study, and it should not be dismissed as mere arbitrariness. This article presents the historical and cultural context of the institution of double jeopardy. Then, it goes on to discuss the events that, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, gave rise to the law that was passed in 2003. The article concludes by translating into Spanish the judgment authorizing retrial, as well as the final legal opinion in the case.