Spain's highest court ruled that cases of genocide committed abroad could be judged in Spain even if no Spanish citizens have been involved.
The ruling follows a request by a Guatemalan Nobel prize winner for Spain to probe abuses in the 1970s and 1980s.
The decision overruled a rejection of the request by Spain's lower courts.
The Constitutional Court ruled that: "The principle of universal jurisdiction takes precedence over the existence or not of national interests.
"Spain should investigate crimes of genocide, torture, murder and illegal imprisonment committed in Guatemala between 1978 and 1986."
