Número 2, enero-junio, 2022

PARLIAMENTS IN SEARCH OF CENTRALITY LOST. BETWEEN THE STRESS TEST AND THE ACCELERATION OF PROCESSES Parliament has suffered particulary from the tensions caused by the Covid’19 pandemic around the world. To the performance of its control functions, at a time when the executive received, or assumed, extraordinary powers, it has added a progressive recovery of its legislative functions and the maintenance of its symbolic role, of “essential service”, transmitting with the continuity of its activity and its presence in the headquarters of national sovereignty a message of public exemplarity. These objectives have had to coexist with the maintenance of the health of its members and its staff and the need for quick and effective responses to new and unforeseen problems.

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND MODIFICATION OF SEX IN CIVIL REGISTRIES: THE RIGHTS OF TRANSSEXUAL PEOPLE ON A PATH STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION Due to the importance of the actions of the European Court of Human Rights in the construction and dissemination of common standards for the protection of human rights, both in the European environment and at the international level, this work is dedicated to compiling, with the appropriate critical considerations, the decisions of the European Court regarding the violation of human rights in the face of the refusal of the Member States of the Council of Europe to change the sex in civil registries requested by transsexuals. The main purpose of the article is, in effect, to disseminate the contents of the case-law of the ECtHR on the matter, with the aim that national institutions act in accordance with the standards elaborated by the European Court.

MIGRATIONS: SPACES OF IMPUNITY AND LEGAL INSEGURITY The manner in which migration flowsare managed enables of spaces impunity as well as the increase in legal insecurity.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND EFFECTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS: INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES The pandemia crisis highlighted the underlying structural inequalities in our societies in different social, economic, civil, and political areas. It also revealed what is known as the pandemic within the pandemic, i.e. the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the most vulnerable groups (women, migrants, refugees, people with disabilities, LGBTI groups, etc.). This paper analyzes the first fundamental guidelines of the United Nations in the face of Covid-19 until mid-2021, highlighting the initiatives to alleviate the deficiencies in the observance of human rights in the international community. It also analyzes the impact of the pandemia on human rights in Spain. Beyond the health field, this article explicitly mentions the Ombudsman’s actions during the pandemia and the question of the limitation or derogation of human rights from the perspective of the Spanish Constitutional Court.

IS A NEW INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENT NECESSARY TO ERADICATE PRACTICES OF FORCED SUBJECTION TO EXPLOITATION OF HUMAN BEINGS? Neither the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, of 15 November 2000, nor Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 5 April 2011, have been tools for eradicating practices of forced submission to exploitation. Its objectives look the other way: the containment of migratory movements of impoverished. The report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, of 17 July 2020, marks a necessary turning point. Given the recognition that human exploitation is “systemic”, the problem must be addressed from another perspective, that provided by international human rights law. Indeed, criminal law intervention in this area is the « tip of the iceberg ». Because the obligation to incriminate and persecute the most extreme human exploitation implies, unfailingly, and above all, the obligation to neutralize the factors that contribute to creating human quarries of modern slavery. That is, it entails a commitment to integrate elements of social justice. That is the best prevention.

A SOCIO-PERSPECTIVE ON JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA In Latin America, the difficulties of judges in maintaining their independence are a chronic and widely acknowledged problem. This contribution focuses on presenting the dynamics of judicial autonomy, as it emerges from the available empirical research, rather than on analyzing its normative dimensions. It discusses research findings concerning both the ability of judges to decide freely despite pressures from political and economic powers (external independence), and their autonomy vis-à-vis those who also exercise the judiciary (internal independence). It also reflects on current challenges, such as those generated by the judicialization of politics or those arising from the Covid 19.

THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY IN COLOMBIA. SOCIO-LEGAL ASPECTS The article discusses the social and political significance of the independence of the judiciary. In the case of Colombia, it analyzes the design to subordinate the judiciary to the executive power since the late 70s of the twentieth century. It recounts the resistance of judges opposed to this project, and how elites implemented a parallel justice system, while weakening the judiciary. In the final balance, what formal justice reforms failed to achieve was accomplished partially by the corruption of the administration of justice, which has seriously hurt its independence. The struggles to fully restore the autonomy of the judiciary are a top priority in today´s agenda.

CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION IN MEXICO This article analyzes the normative situation presented by freedom of transit in international human rights law, as a key right in migratory matters, from which could emerge a hypothetical human right to migrate. After exploring the emergence and evolution of the category of irregular immigration, finally the pillars of the Mexican migration policy implemented to control flows are studied, emphasizing the existing contradictions between it and the constitutional framework of freedom of movement.

THE CONCERN FOR THE QUALITY OF THE LAW The concern for the quality of the law is not new, but it has known a boom in the contemporary world, in which the laws multiply and the legal system becomes so complex. This paper analyzes the evolution in Spain in terms of legislative technique, as well as the scarce advances in the doctrine of the Constitutional Court, despite the fact that the flaws in laws and the obscurity of the legal system may damage legal certainty, a principle recognized by the Constitution. . A reflection on the state of the matter and the pending improvements, especially in regulatory impact assessment, shows that the advances may not be sufficient if the rules already adopted are not observed in law-making. On the other hand, the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an excessive legislative proliferation, with trends -such as the excess of emergency decree-laws- that still remain.

MIGRATION IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE (OF CENTRAL AMERICA): VULNERABILITY AND RISKS The Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) is formed by three countries: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador; so called due to their economic integration and trifinios border points, also, they are referred to by the migratory flows that allude from historical and current reasons that have been gaining relevance in recent years. The emergence of new manifestations in Central American migration makes this study the importance of dealing with issues of vulnerability and risks, especially of migrants in irregular conditions in transit through Mexico to the United States of America.