Telematic control in Spain: fields of application, comparison with the European context and open debates

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an approach to electronic monitoring in Spain, as well as to present a comparison with the European context and expose some of the open debates in the criminological literature on this measure. It begins with a brief
history of its introduction in the Spanish context. After it is presented a review of the main areas of application of electronic monitoring in Spain: as a precautionary measure, as a way to enforce home arrest, as a modality of open prison, as an obligation during prison leaves and, recently, as an accompaniment to the post-penitentiary security measure of supervised release. This is followed by a presentation of the measure in the European context, with an overview of the areas of application in other countries and some data on its use. Finally, some questions debated in the criminological literature on this measure are disclosed: its effectiveness in reducing recidivism, whether it really represents an alternative to prison, whether it reduces costs to the Criminal Justice System or is a step towards its privatisation, and finally whether it is a measure with a sufficient punitive “bite” to be considered a punishment by its own.