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Full text of the "Draft Law to recognise and broaden rights and to establish measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the Civil War and the Dictatorship."

DRAFT LAW TO RECOGNISE AND BROADEN RIGHTS AND TO ESTABLISH MEASURES IN FAVOUR OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED PERSECUTION OR VIOLENCE DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND THE DICTATORSHIP.

EXPLANATION OF REASONS

The spirit of reconciliation and harmony and of respect for pluralism and peaceful defence of all ideas which guided the Transition, enabled the establishment of a Constitution for us, that of 1978, which legally expressed the desire of Spaniards for reunification, forming a social and democratic state of law with the clear wish for integration.

Thus the spirit of the Transition gives meaning to this constitutional model offering the most fruitful co-existence that we Spaniards have ever enjoyed. And it is this same spirit which also explains the various measures and rights which have been recognised over time from the very beginning of the entire democratic era, for the benefit of those persons who, for the decades prior to the Constitution, suffered the consequences of our devastating civil war and the dictatorship that succeeded it.

Notwithstanding that legislative effort, there still remain initiatives which should be adopted to give effect and a definitive response to the demands of those citizens, presented both through parliament and through various civic associations. These constitute legitimate and just demands to which our democracy, calling again upon that founding spirit of harmony and in the context of the Constitution, cannot fail to respond.

It is now time, therefore, that Spanish democracy and the generations which today enjoy that democracy, honour and compensate for all time those who endured directly the injustices and offences which took place, for contrasting political or ideological reasons, in that painful period of our history. Certainly, those who lost their lives, and, in addition, their families. And those who lost their freedom, who endured imprisonment, forced labour or internment in concentration camps within or outside of our borders. And, finally, those who lost their homeland by being forced into a long, heartbreaking and in many cases, irreversible, exile.

The present Law begins with the consideration that various aspects relating to personal and family memory, particularly when they have been affected by conflicts of a public nature, form part of the legal status of democratic citizenship, and as such, are dealt with in the text. Thus, an individual right of each citizen to personal and family memory is recognised and its expression is found for the first time in the Law in the general recognition set out in article 2 hereof.

In fact, there is in the said provision a general declaration of the unjust nature of all the convictions, punishments and expressions of personal violence which took place during the Civil War, for reasons which were unequivocally political or ideological, as well as those which, for the same reasons, occurred in the subsequent Dictatorship.

This general declaration in article 2 is complemented by provision for a specific procedure to obtain an individual Declaration, rehabilitating and reparative in content, which will be available as a right to all those affected and which can be exercised by them or by their relatives.

Given its important symbolic value, it is considered appropriate to assign the issue of these Declarations, which will be published in the Official Gazette, to a Council designated by Parliament, created ad hoc and made up of individuals of recognised standing whose appointment will be endorsed by a qualified majority of the House of Deputies (arts. 3 to 7).

In articles 8 to 12 there is recognition of various improvements to economic rights which already exist in our legal system. In the second additional provision, on the same theme, a right to indemnification is envisaged in respect of all those persons who lost their lives in defence of democracy (that democracy which we all now enjoy today), and who, hitherto have not received proper compensation.

There follow various rules (arts. 13 to 16) which, in response to a very legitimate demand from a not insignificant number of citizens who still do not know the whereabouts of their relatives, anticipate measures and instruments so that the public services may facilitate, for such persons who request it, the tasks of locating, and where applicable, identifying the disappeared as a final proof of respect to them. These are provided in an attempt to address, with a sense of deliberation and balance, the different rights, interests and proper moral options which may arise on the subject at the same time.

Similarly, there are a series of measures (arts. 17 and 18) concerning the symbols and commemorative monuments of the Civil War or the Dictatorship which are State-owned, based on the principle that the conflict between Spaniards should not be extolled and in the conviction that citizens have a right to this - that public symbols be considered an opportunity for meeting and not for confrontation, offence or injury.

The legislators consider that is just to recognise two groups in particular. In the first instance, the volunteer members of the International Brigades, who will be granted the right to take Spanish nationality without the need for them to renounce whatever nationality they currently have (art. 20); and second, to the civilian Associations who have done significant work to defend the dignity of the victims of political violence addressed in this Law, which will be granted the Great Cross of Civil Merit (la Gran Cruz del Mérito Civil) on a collective basis as testimony to this recognition (art. 21).

In order to facilitate compilation of and the right to access to the historical information concerning the Civil War, the Law reinforces the role of the current General Archive of the Spanish Civil War, headquartered in Salamanca, and provides that all documentation existing in other State centres, be transferred to it (arts. 22 to 25).

Once and for all, the current Law wishes to contribute to the healing of wounds still open amongst Spaniards and to give satisfaction to those citizens who suffered, directly or through their relatives, the consequences of the tragedy of the Civil War or the Dictatorship repression.

It wishes to do so in the complete certainty that, by entering more deeply into the spirit of reunification and harmony of the Transition, not only will those citizens be recognised and honoured but also the democracy of Spain as a whole.

And finally, it wishes to do so out in the certainty that it is not the rôle of the law, or of legal norms in general, to set as an objective the establishment of a particular "historical memory", nor is it appropriate for the legislator to construct or reconstruct a supposed "collective memory". But it is the duty of the legislator, and a task of the law, to enshrine and protect with the maximum legal effect, the right to personal and family memory as an expression of full democratic citizenship. This is the obligation to which the legal text responds.

Article 1. Objective of the Law.

This Law has as its objective the recognition and extension of rights in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence, for political or ideological reasons, during the Civil War or the Dictatorship, to promote their moral redress and the recovery of their personal and family memory, and to adopt complementary measures designed to suppress elements of division between citizens, all this with the object of fostering cohesion and solidarity between the various generations of Spaniards with respect to principles, values and constitutional liberties.

Article 2. General recognition.

1. As an expression of the right of all citizens to the restoration of their personal and family memory, all convictions, punishments or other forms of personal violence which took place for political or ideological reasons during the Civil War, are recognised and declared to be unjust in nature, whatever the side those who suffered them belonged to or in whichever zone |1| they took place, as, similarly, are those same acts suffered for the same reasons which took place during the dictatorship which continued after the Civil War until 1975.

2. The political or ideological reasons referred to above include the membership of or collaboration with political parties, unions, religious or military organizations, ethnic minorities, secret societies, masonic lodges and resistance groups, as well as conduct connected with cultural or linguistic choices or those of sexual orientation.

Article 3. Declaration of redress and individual recognition.

1. The right to obtain a declaration of reparation and individual recognition is hereby acknowledged for those who during the Civil War and the Dictatorship suffered the effects of those acts referred to in the preceding article.

2. This declaration will be applicable with respect to those penalties and punishments of a personal nature imposed during the Civil War by Courts, Tribunals or other administrative organs of whatever nature and with respect to all executions carried out by any organization or group during the same period, provided always, in either case, they were related, directly or indirectly, to political or ideological reasons as defined in article 2.2 of this Law.

3. It will also be applicable in relation to executions, penalties and punishments of a personal nature which took place after the end of the Civil War, when the objective of the same was the repression or persecution of those who defended the institutional legal system which preceded 18th July 1936, or attempted to re-establish a democratic regime in Spain, or tried to live pursuant to those choices afforded by the rights and freedoms recognised today by the Constitution. In all cases, it will be necessary that the conduct that was judged and punished at the time complies with the constitutional principles and values in effect today.

Article 4. Procedure for a request.

1. Those persons affected, or in their absence, spouses or persons with similar emotional nexus, their ascendants, descendants and collateral relatives to the second degree shall have the right to request the said Declaration.

2. Similarly the said Declaration may be requested by public institutions, subject to the prior consent of their appropriate government body, in respect of those who carried out a relevant office or activity within such institution but who did not have a spouse or a relative of the type referred to in the above paragraph.

3. The persons or institutions referred to above shall direct any request to the Inter-Ministerial Commission referred to in the first additional provision of this Law, within a maximum period of one year from the date that this Law enters into effect.

4. The request will be accompanied by such documentation relating to the facts and the original trial or proceeding as is in the possession of the petitioners as well any relevant background information.

5. The Commission may refuse to admit any request where the petitioner does not fall within any of the categories provided in paras. 1 and 2 hereof or where the request is submitted outside the time period permitted.

6. The Commission may, of its own initiative or at the instance of a third party, and subject to legislation currently in force, require of the various offices of the Public Administration and judicial organs, any documents or information which are pertinent for it to take a decision. For this purpose it can suspend the procedure for a period not exceeding six months. Once the documentation or information has been received, the Commission will notify the petitioner thereof who will then have a period of 20 days to present anything he or she considers relevant.

7. Upon review of the documentation and information presented, within a maximum period of one year from the date of the presentation of the petition, the Commission shall submit its recommendation to the Council established pursuant to the following article.

Article 5. Decision-making organ.

1. For the purpose of deciding requests for a Declaration referred to in the preceding articles, a Council shall be established composed of 5 persons of acknowledged reputation in the field of social sciences, appointed by a majority of three fifths of the House of Deputies.

2. The members of the Council will not be subject to any specific mandate nor will they receive instructions from any authority. They will exercise their functions with autonomy and freedom of criteria, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and will keep confidential all the information of which they may be aware in exercising such functions. They will not be entitled to exercise any other function of political representation or designation.

3. They will cease to members of the Council in the event of:

    a) Resignation
    b) Termination of their duties
    c) Death or supervening incapacity
    d) Conviction consequent on a final judgement for a deliberate crime.

4. The members of the Council will appoint a President from among themselves. The Secretary of the Council, who will have a right to be heard but no vote, shall be the Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Commission referred to in the first additional Provision of this Law.

5. The Ministry of the Presidency will provide the Council with all personnel and materials necessary for its proper functioning.

Article 6. Functions of the Council.

The Council shall have the following functions:

    a) To decide the recommendations submitted to it by the Inter-Ministerial Commission within a maximum period of 6 months, issuing a favourable Declaration or denying the same on the terms set out in the following article.

    b) To require that the Inter-Ministerial Commission provides all information necessary to make a decision before a Declaration is issued and to suspend the period for its issue.

    c) To prepare an annual report on its activities to be submitted to the House of Deputies.

Article 7. Contents of the Declaration.

1. The only purpose of the Declarations of reparation and individual recognition shall be the acknowledgement that the executions, convictions or punishments suffered are manifestly unjust as being contrary to the rights and freedoms which make up the foundation of the constitutional order in effect today and which are the basis for the co-existence of this society.

2. In no case shall the Declaration to which this article refers constitute an entitlement to recognition of patrimonial responsibility of the State or of any office of the Public Administration, nor will it give rise to any consequence, damages or reparation, whether economic or professional in type.

3. The Declaration will exclude any reference to the identity of any persons who took part in the events or in the legal actions which gave rise to the punishments or convictions.

4. The formula for reparation set out in this Law shall be compatible with any other already submitted by the interested party as provided in the legal system.

5. The Declarations of reparation and individual recognition will be published in the Official Gazette for general information.

Article 8. Improvement of the loans provided by Law 5/1979, of 18 September, on pensions, medical, pharmaceutical and social assistance in favour of widows, children and relatives of the Spaniards who died during or after the Civil War.

1. In order to complete the protective measures established pursuant to Law 5/1979, of 18 September, on pensions, medical, pharmaceutical and social assistance in favour of the widows, children and other relatives of Spaniards who died during or after the Civil War, article 1, number 2 a) and c) are hereby amended to provide as follows:

    "a) For wounds, illness or accidental injury caused as a consequence of the war.

    c) As a consequence of political or union actions or opinions when a personal and direct relationship of causality can thus be established between the civil war and the death."

2. The pensions recognised pursuant to the provision in the preceding paragraph shall take effect economically from the first day of the month following the entry into force of the present Law, and the laws concerning expiry of the same set out in the Regime for State Passive Classes (Régimen de Clases Pasivas del Estado) will also apply where relevant.

Article 9. Amount of certain pensions for orphans.

1. The amount of pensions in favour of orphans who are non-disabled adults (older than 21 years of age) where the original beneficiary was not a public servant pursuant to Laws 5/1979, of 18 September and 35/1980, of 26 June, shall be set at 132.86 euros monthly.

2. With respect to the pensions for orphans referred to in this article, the system of supplementary payments (complementos económicos) currently in force shall apply and they will therefore be subject to annual revaluations as established by the General State Budget Laws (Leyes de Presupuestos Generales del Estado).

3. The provisions in the preceding two paragraphs shall take economic effect from the first day of the month following the entry into force of the present Law, without prejudice to the norms concerning expiry of the same set out in the regulations governing Passive Class Pensions.

Article 10. Amendment in favour of those who suffered imprisonment of the scope of application of compensation as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law of amnesty 46/1977 of 15 October.

1. In order to incorporate matters excluded from the compensation granted in respect of periods of imprisonment during the Dictatorship, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Eighteenth Additional Provision of Law 4/1990 of 29 June on the General State Budgets for the year 1990, are hereby amended to provide as follows:

"One. Whoever can show that they were deprived of their liberty in a penal institution or in a Disciplinary Battalion, in whatever way, during three or more years, as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law 46/1977 of 15 October and who were 60 years of age as of 31 December 1990, will be entitled to receive one time only a payment by way of compensation according to the following scale:

Euros

Three or more years imprisonment...........................6,010.12
For every three complete additional years...............1,202.02

Two. If the beneficiary of this compensation is deceased, and if as of 31December 1990 he or she would have reached 60 years of age, the surviving spouse will be entitled to this compensation if he or she is receiving a widower/widow's pension for the same reason; if the surviving spouse is not receiving it, he or she will be entitled to the same if he or she establishes that he or she is the widowed spouse of the beneficiary".

2. Paragraph 7 is hereby added to the Eighteenth Additional Provision of Law 4/1990 of 29 June on the General State Budgets which provides as follows:

"Seven. Whoever considers that they are entitled to the benefits established in paragraphs one and two above, whether because they are the original beneficiaries or surviving spouses or widowed pensioners for such reason, should submit an express application for the same to the General Directorate of Personnel Costs and Public Pensions (Dirección General de Costes de Personal y Pensiones Públicas)".

Article 11. Taxation of Personal Income in respect of compensation for those who suffered deprivation of liberty as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law of Amnesty 46/1977, of 15 October.

With effect from 1 January 2005, a new letter u) is added to article 7 of the consolidated text of the Law of Personal Income Tax, passed by Royal Legislative Decree 3/2004 of 5 March, which will provide as follows:

    "u) Compensation provided in the legislation of the State and the Autonomous Communities to compensate for the deprivation of liberty in penal institutions as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law of Amnesty 46/1977 of 15 October".

Article 12. Assistance to compensate for the tax charge in respect of compensations received since 1 January 1999 for deprivation of liberty as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law of Amnesty 46/1977 of 15 October.

1. Persons who between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2004 received compensation provided in the Law of the State and the Autonomous Communities to compensate for deprivation of liberty in penal institutions as a consequence of the events contemplated in Law of Amnesty 46/1977 of 15 October, may petition, in the form and for the periods to be determined, the benefit of assistance set at 15% of the amounts they have declared as such compensation in their Personal Income Tax Declaration for each of the tax periods.

2. If the persons referred to in para. 1 above have died the right to assistance will pass to their heirs who may make a request therefor.

3. The assistance received by virtue of the provisions of this article shall be exempt from Personal Income Tax.

4. The procedure, conditions for obtaining this assistance and the competent authority for recognition and payment thereof will be determined by Order of the Ministry of Economy and Treasury.

Article 13. Co-operation between Public Administration offices and individuals to locate and identify victims

1. Public administration offices, subject to their authority, will assist direct descendants of victims who request an inquiry in respect of, and the location and identification of, persons who disappeared violently during the civil war or the subsequent political repression and whose whereabouts are unknown.

The provision of the preceding paragraph is applicable to those entities which were formed prior to June 1 2004 and the functions of which include such activities.

2. Subject to the applicable regulations, subsidies may be granted to contribute to the costs defrayed as a result of the activities contemplated in this article.

Article 14. Location Plans

1. The competent public administration offices shall prepare and make available to interested parties referred to in article 13 above, within their territorial area of activity, plans which identify those areas where the remains of persons referred in the preceding article are located, together with complementary information on the same.

2. The Government will determine a procedure for the preparation of an integrated map covering the entire Spanish territory which will be also available for all interested parties and will incorporate the information which, subject to the terms established, should be submitted by the various competent public administrations.

3. The areas included in the maps will be subject to special preservation by their landowners on terms to be established by regulation.

Article 15. Administrative authorizations for activities of location and identification

1. The competent public administrations will authorize the tasks of prospecting with a view to locating the remains of the victims referred to in article 13 para 1, in accordance with the legislation governing historic patrimony.

2. The public administrations, in the exercise of their powers will establish the procedure and the conditions by which the direct descendants of the victims referred to in article 13 para 1, or the entities that act in their name may recover the remains buried in the corresponding graves in order to identify them and move them to another location.

3. In all circumstances, the exhumation will be subject to the administrative authorization on the part of the competent authority which must take into consideration in particular the existence of any opposition on the part of any of the direct descendants of the persons whose remains are to be moved. To this end, and prior to the corresponding decision, the competent authority must give adequate publicity to the petitions submitted, communicating the same in all cases to the General State Administration for its inclusion in the map referred to in paragraph 1 of the preceding article.

4. The remains of victims which have been moved and have not been claimed will be interred in the cemetery within the municipality where they were located at the cost of those who requested the exhumation.

Article 16. Access to the lands affected by the work of location and identification

1. The carrying out of activities of location and eventual identification or transfer of the remains of those persons referred to in paragraph 1 of article 13 constitute activities of public utility and social interest for the purposes of allowing, where appropriate and pursuant to articles 108 to 119 of the Law of Compulsory Expropriation, the temporary occupation of those lands where they must be carried out.

2. For the purposes of the activities set out in the preceding paragraphs, the administrations will authorize, save for reasons of the public interest, the temporary occupation of land within their ownership by the direct descendants of the victims or the organizations which assume, the activities described in the preceding paragraphs.

3. With respect to lands in private ownership, the descendants or the appropriate organizations pursuant to the preceding paragraph may request the consent of those entitled to the lands where the remains are located. If no consent is given, the public administrations may authorize temporary occupation, provided always they have heard the arguments of the affected owners of the land and have given due consideration to their arguments and have set appropriate compensation for them at the cost of the temporary occupiers.

Article 17 . Symbols and public monuments.

Those entities who maintain ownership of or are responsible for the conservation of monuments, buildings and places in state ownership, shall take appropriate measures to withdraw all shields, insignia, plaques or other commemorative references to the Civil War existing in the same, where these recognise only one of the sides who took part in the War or are identified with the regime established in Spain at the end of the War.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph will not apply where there exist artistic, or architectural reasons or other reasons of general interest which render them inappropriate. In these cases, subject to the circumstances, a way to render homage and remembrance to all the victims of the Civil War can be considered.

Article 18. Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos).

1. The Valley of the Fallen shall be governed strictly by laws of general application governing places of worship and public cemeteries.

2. In no part of the grounds can any acts be carried out which are political in nature or which tend to extol the Civil War, its protagonists or Francoism.

3. The Foundation which is responsible for the management of the Valley of the Fallen shall include amongst its objectives the honouring of the memory of all those persons who died as a consequence of the Civil War of 1936-1939 and the political repression which followed it, with a view to deepening the knowledge of this historical period and to extolling peace and democratic values.

Article 19. Buildings and public works carried out by forced labour.

In accordance with the governing regulations, public authorities may provide for subsidies for the preparation of censuses of buildings and public works which were carried out by members of Disciplinary Battalions of Worker Soldiers as well as by prisoners of concentration camps, Worker Battalions and prisoners of the Militarized Penal Colonies.

Article 20. Granting Spanish nationality to the voluntary members of the International Brigades.

1. To implement the right recognised by Royal Decree 39/1996, of January 19, of the voluntary members of the International Brigades who took part in the civil war of 1936 to 1939, the requirement that they renounce their prior nationality contained in article 23, letter b of the Civil Code will not be applicable as regards the acquisition of Spanish nationality by naturalization papers.

2. The requirements and procedure to be followed in order to acquire Spanish nationality by the persons referred to in the preceding paragraph will be determined by way of Royal Decree passed by the Council of Ministers.

Article 21. Recognition of Victims Associations

The Government, by means of Royal Decree agreed by the Council of Ministers, may grant the Great Cross of Civil Merit (la Gran Cruz del Mérito Civil) on a collective basis to the Associations, Foundations and Organizations which have been prominent in the defence of the dignity of victims of the political violence referred to in this Law and in their contribution to the recovery of historical memory.

Article 22. Creation of a Documentary Centre of Historical Memory.

1. In accordance with the provisions of Law 21/2005, of 17 November, a Documentary Centre of Historical Memory is established with headquarters in the city of Salamanca.

2. The functions of the Documentary Centre of Historical Memory shall be:

    a) To maintain and develop the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War and to effect the modernisation of techniques for its use and conservation.

    b) To recover, collect, organize and put at the disposition of interested parties, documentary resources and secondary sources which may be of interest for the study of the Civil War, the Franco dictatorship, the guerrilla resistance against it, the exile, the internment of Spaniards in concentration camps during the Second World War and the transition.

    c) To promote historical investigation of the Civil War, Francoism, the exile and the transition and to contribute to the dissemination of such findings.

    d) To encourage the diffusion of the resources of the Centre and to facilitate the active participation of its users and their representative organizations.

3. The structure and operation of the Documentary Centre of Historical Memory will be established by means of Royal Decree agreed in the Council of Ministers.

Article 23. General Archive of the Spanish Civil War

1. Original documents or reliable copies of the same, referring to the Civil War of 1936-1939 and the subsequent political repression situated in public Archives, Museums or Libraries which are State-owned will be incorporated into the State-owned General Archive of the Spanish Civil War headquartered in city of Salamanca, created by Royal Decree 426/1999, of 12th March in the form and by a process to be established by regulation.

2. Measures will be introduced as necessary to enable the General State Administration to compile relevant oral testimony concerning the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent political repression and to incorporate the same into the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War.

Article 24. Acquisition and protection of documents on the Civil War and the Dictatorship.

1. The General State Administration shall approve, on an annual basis and with funding established in each case in the General State Budgets, a programme of agreements for the acquisition of documents referring to the Civil War or the subsequent political repression which are in the possession of public or private, national or foreign archives, whether in original version or in some format faithful to the original which permits archiving, understanding or reproducing words, data or numbers. The said documentary resources will be incorporated into the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War.

2. Pursuant to the provisions of Law 16/1985, of 25 June, on Spanish Historical Patrimony, the documents in the possession of public and private archives concerning the Civil War and the Dictatorship are declared for all purposes to be part of the Documentary and Bibliographic Patrimony.

Article 25. Right of access to the resources of public and private archives.

1. For the purposes of the provisions of this Law, interested parties and their heirs are guaranteed the right of access to documentary resources held in public archives and the right to obtain copies of any documents requested which are of interest to them.

2. The provision of the preceding paragraph shall be applicable in full to those private archives which are maintained in whole or in part by public funds.

3. Access to documents held in the Archives referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be governed by the provision contained in article 57 of Law 16/1985, of 25 June, on Spanish Historical Patrimony. The provision of article 57 paragraph 3 shall be of particular application when the documents identify the principals or other persons who took part in the events or the legal acts regarding the same, in which event those responsible for the public archives, in lieu of providing a copy of such document, will provide a certified copy of its contents in order to preserve the identity of such persons.

First additional provision - Inter-Ministerial Commission for the assistance of those who suffered the consequences of the Civil War and the Dictatorship.

1. An Inter-Ministerial Commission is hereby created for the assistance of those who suffered the consequences of the Civil War and the Dictatorship, the composition, organisation and functions of which will be determined by regulation.

2. The regulations referred to in the preceding paragraph will provide for the dissolution and cessation of the functions of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the study of the situation concerning the victims of the civil war and Francoism, created by Royal Decree 1891/2004, of 10 September.

3. Before it commences its duties, the Inter-Ministerial Commission for the assistance of those who suffered the consequences of the Civil War and the Dictatorship will issue an organizational resolution to create such supporting sub-commissions as it considers appropriate, made up of persons in the employ of the Public Administration. The existence and composition of the same will appear in the corresponding schedule of positions of employment at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Second Additional Provision.- Recognition of those persons who died in the defence of democracy during the period between 1 January 1968 and October 1977.

1. Bearing in mind the exceptional circumstances which resulted in their deaths, the right to indemnification in the amount of 135,000 € is hereby granted to the beneficiaries of those who died during the period between January 1 1968 and October 6 1977, in the defence of and demand for restoration of democratic liberties and rights.

2. The beneficiaries of the indemnification referred to in the first paragraph of this provision shall be the children and spouse of the person who died, provided the latter was not legally separated nor in the process of separation or matrimonial annulment, or the person who had been co-habiting with such person in a permanent way with a similar emotional relationship as that of a spouse during a period of at least two years immediately prior to the date of death, unless the two had common descendants in which case, mere co-habitation will be sufficient.

If none of the above are alive, in successive and exclusive order the parents, grandchildren, siblings of the deceased and the children of the person who co-habited with the deceased shall be the beneficiaries, where they were economically dependent upon the deceased.

Where there are a number of persons who belong to one of the groups who have a right to indemnification, the maximum amount will be divided in equal parts among those who have such rights on an equal basis except where those persons comprise the spouse or person with similar affective relationship and the children of the deceased, in which case the assistance will be apportioned as to 50% between the spouse or person with similar relationship and 50% to all the children.

3. The payment of the indemnification will be made provided always that no indemnification or other economic compensation has been received due to the same events or where it has been received if it was of a lesser amount than that established in this provision.

4. The Government, by Royal Decree, shall determine the conditions for the procedure by which to grant the indemnification established in this provision. The implementation of this procedure will be the duty of the Commission created in the First Additional Provision of this Law and its final determination will be the duty of the Council of Ministers.

5. The beneficiaries of the indemnification established by this provision will have a period of one year, commencing from the entry into effect of the Royal Decree referred to in the preceding paragraph, to submit their demand to the said Commission.

Third Additional Provision - Data Protection.

1. The collection, granting and management of data of a personal nature concerning those individuals affected by the measures contemplated in this Law, may only be carried out in digital files of public ownership and will be governed by the provisions of Organic Law 15/1999, of December 13, concerning Personal Data Protection.

2. Access to the documents in the possession of the public archives referring to victims of the Civil War and the Dictatorship will be subject to the time periods and conditions set out in article 37 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, concerning the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure, and to article 37 of Law 16/1985 of 25 June of Spanish Historical Patrimony.

Fourth Additional Provision - Creation |2| of the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War.

The Government is authorized to carry out the actions necessary in order to organize and restructure the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War.

First final provision - Supplementary application.

The provisions of Law 30/1992 concerning the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure will continue to apply in addition to but not in derogation of the provisions contained in articles 3 and 7 of this Law.

Second final provision.- Authorization for implementation.

The Government and members thereof, are authorized within their respective powers, to issue those measures necessary for the implementation and application of the provisions of this Law.

Third final provision - Entry into effect.

The current Law will enter into effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado).

Notes:

1. Translation note: "Zones" here is used euphemistically and has no legal significance either in domestic or international law. It equates the "zone" of the legitimate Republican Government with that of the armed rebels led by General Franco [Back]

2. Translation note: "Adecuación" in the original Spanish text. In fact the "General Archive of the Civil War" does not exist. What does exist is the original archive created under the Francoist regime under the name of "Causa General", criminal proceedings which were Spanish inquisitorial in type. These proceedings classed together all the crimes of which the Spanish republicans were accused by the Franco regime.

The equivalent of the British "National Archives" do not exist in Spain and the associations have asked for the creation of such an archive. There are general provincial archives which are not duly maintained, lack budgetary allocation and which have been neglected for about the last 40 years. [Back]

Documentation Note: Translated into English from its original Spanish version by Equipo Nizkor on September 2006.
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