The crime of contempt in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court (1870-1995): the protected legal right and the precision work of the jurisprudence

Abstract

This paper focuses on the crime of contempt through the light shed by its history and jurisprudence. Its history provides a better understanding of its surprising longevity, which, even in the democratic period, has been in force for almost two decades. Therefore, in order to develop the study of its jurisprudence, its background and historical origins have been reviewed, as well as an abundant number of Supreme Court rulings. This has made it possible to verify the controversial existence of this crime, whose controversy has accompanied it since its birth, questioning not only its mere existence but also specific aspects of its elements and its protected legal right. The marked continuity in its wording and its resistance to the passage of time and thus to the political changes that accompanied the eventful criminal codification, contrasts with the fact that some of the elements that made it up were unclear to the doctrine, as well as with the lack of a peaceful definition of its protected legal right. This paper exposes the function of precision and clarification of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court throughout its existence in relation to the crime of contempt.