El papel del Consejo de Europa en la lucha contra el crimen organizado en España (I)

Review of Alicia Brox's Study on the Council of Europe’s Role in Combating Organized Crime in Spain Alicia Brox Sáenz de la Calzada presents a rigorous and enlightening legal analysis of the Council of Europe's (CoE) contribution to the fight against organized crime in Spain. Celebrating the institution’s 75th anniversary, the article underscores the CoE’s historical evolution and its increasingly proactive stance in defending democracy, the rule of law, and human rights across its 46 member states, including all EU members. Brox centers her discussion on two legally binding instruments of paramount importance: the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005) and the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2011), also known as the Istanbul Convention. These treaties are among the most concrete expressions of the Council’s normative power and illustrate its efforts to criminalize gender-based violence and human trafficking within the broader framework of organized crime. A key strength of the article is its emphasis on the juridical enforceability of these treaties, in contrast with the soft law instruments that often characterize international human rights frameworks. The author deftly explains how the Istanbul Convention, as the first European legal instrument to classify violence against women as a human rights violation, mandates legal and structural reforms within member states. This includes recognizing the multifaceted and systemic nature of gender-based violence, obligating states to adopt holistic legal responses that go beyond mere criminalization, integrating preventive, protective, and punitive measures. Of particular relevance to the Spanish legal context, Brox discusses the implementation and monitoring mechanisms of these conventions, namely GREVIO and GRETA, which ensure compliance through independent expert evaluations. She notes Spain’s formal commitment to both treaties and elaborates on the challenges faced in the area of trafficking for sexual exploitation, the most prevalent form of trafficking in the country, disproportionately affecting women (around 90% of victims). The data cited from the Ministry of the Interior and GRETA’s 2023 evaluation report provide a sobering empirical backdrop that reinforces the article's urgency. Brox’s articulation of the legal intersections between organized crime and gender violence is especially pertinent. By demonstrating that many manifestations of organized crime—such as forced marriages, sexual violence, or genital mutilation—constitute violations of the Istanbul Convention when gendered in nature, she invites a reconceptualization of legal approaches to transnational crime. However, she also carefully distinguishes that trafficking, although closely linked, was partially excluded from the Istanbul Convention due to the preexistence of dedicated instruments like the 2007 Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and the 2005 Trafficking Convention. In sum, the article offers a precise doctrinal and normative mapping of the CoE’s legal arsenal against organized crime, with a strong focus on human trafficking and violence against women. It makes a compelling case for the integrated application of human rights law and criminal law in this domain, while also shedding light on the evolving jurisprudence of positive obligations for states under international law.