PALMA
ONE of Majorca's most senior judges has called for the setting up of a register of paedophiles.
Francisco Martínez Espinosa wishes to see such a register established to make it more difficult for known paedophiles to reoffend.
His remarks come in the wake of the much-publicized Mari Luz case in which a known paedophile is suspected of killing five-year-old Mari Luz Cortés in Huelva. The suspect was a neighbour of the Cortés family.
Martínez Espinosa believes that there are few measures in place to prevent identified paedophiles from reoffending.
However, the judge did not define precisely what kind of system he would envisage for Spain, instead he referred to the US and UK systems.
In the US, the register can be accessed by any member of the public. In the UK, on the other hand, only certain institutions and administrations can access it, principally to ensure that paedophiles are not working with children.
Martínez Espinosa said that maybe the British system was more suitable as it better balanced prevention with the right to privacy.
In any case, the judge said that it was important that in Spain we start to consider the creation of a paedophile register.
However, he added that the debate should not begin in the current heated climate surrounding the death of Mari Luz, allegedly at the hands of a paedophile.
Martínez Espinosa also warned that, given the more than 8'000 cases pending in the Balearics as a result of the ongoing industrial action in the Spanish justice system, it could not be guaranteed that what happened in the Mari Luz case - where a string of errors led to her alleged killer avoiding jail - could not happen in other parts of Spain.
For this reason, he said, the administration should take immediate measures to resolve the worrying and highly disturbing situation in Criminal Court No. 8.
He added that it was desirable that the court was reinforced with more personnel and resources.