Historiographical Notes on the Contribution of the Supreme Court to the Configuration of Crimes in Spain (1870-1978)

Abstract

Criminal case law has been scarcely studied for various reasons. In fact, until a few years ago, no legal historian had set out to study it as an element shaping the criminal-legal system. Some of them began this task and have achieved surprising results, both in terms of the volume and quality of their scientific production, to the point that they have practically completed the study of the entire doctrine of the Supreme Court with respect to the Special Part of criminal codes. This article analyzes the importance of case law as a source of law and as an object of legal and historical-legal study, and includes an exhaustive description of the results obtained in recent years.