Monitor: Spanish press comment following the Law Lords' ruling on General Pinochet

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THE LAW Lords ruled that Pinochet can be tried only for crimes committed after 20 September 1988... and that sanctions cannot be applied retroactively. The verdict is highly disputable on this point since there is an extensive doctrine in international law that upholds the contrary. The prosecutor, Alun Jones, argued that the Convention against Torture puts no limit on the time for punishing crimes against humanity, which can and must be pursued by any state according to the Tribunal of Nuremberg. It's obvious that the general cannot now be tried for the thousands of murders committed by his regime during the Seventies. But the British judges have established the principle that crimes of state cannot remain unpunished. That is the important thing. Henceforth any tyrant or mass murderer can be put on trial. That is an enormous legal, ethical and political triumph. The ruling has reconciled with law and justice.

El Mundo

PINOCHET'S SUPPORTERS must admit he was subjected to an impeccable legal process, backed by all the guarantees that he denied his victims. Yesterday's ruling imposed a compromise formula between UN, Spanish and British legislation. It also made progress towards an irreversible change in the framework of international law, which now recognises that political dignity must be preceded by human dignity. If today some realpolitik can be invoked, it is for the scrupulous respect for the person. It is no longer realistic to believe that order is possible without justice.

ABC

THE IMMEDIATE consequence is that Pinochet stays in London for the time being. The second is that he could be extradited to Spain. The most profound result, however, is the gust of fresh air blown through flagging international law, in which the Pinochet case has become a trial of fire of rulers' immunity or not for atrocities committed while they are in office. In London, the door has opened to a universal justice that must culminate in an international criminal court.

El Pais