MIGUEL BAJO’s career as a lawyer and academic revolved around white-collar crimes, a subject in which he is recognized as a pioneer and master in Spain, having been throughout his life one of the main expert researchers in this field. From the teachings of his Chair have emerged important jurists, today Judges, public notaries or owners of renowned law firms.
His work “Derecho penal económico aplicado a la actividad empresarial” was the first complete, systematic and coherent text in Spanish on this subject. Its publication, alongside with his “Manual de Derecho Penal - Parte Especial, Los delitos de Estafa y el Tratado de la Responsabilidad Penal de las Personas Jurídicas (VVAA)”, influenced the trajectory of his professional practice and his disciples’ careers. As a lawyer he was present in almost all of the most important criminal proceedings related to white-collar crimes since 1980. His thought had as its main axis the idea that the jurist must understand the State and the Law with strict respect for individual freedom. This led Professor Bajo to a clear concern for the certainty of the law, the defense of the citizen against power in the context of a social and democratic State; as well as the concern for cardinal ethical issues of criminal law such as the defense of fundamental rights, the conflict between public and private interests, the guarantee against political power, the sacredness of the right of defense, the rejection of the illegal evidence and the devotion to the cleanliness of the process, among other relevant issues.