Legislating for deviancy in the shadows

Treatment for 'dementes' and 'locos' from 1870 to 1931

Resumen

The current article analyses the Spanish legislation regarding the treatment of insane offenders. In this normative study, various legal sources have been outlined: criminal codes, decrees, royal decrees, royal orders, ministerial orders, the War Navy Code, and the Code of Military Justice, among others. However, this approach tries to put legislation in context, since most of the evolution of the legislation is due to doctrine and case-law. Indeed, the fundamental change takes place in 1931, but this must be put into perspective and connected to the often forgotten, aforementioned sources of the law.