Constitutional Court report endorses core of amnesty law

The draft of the report from Constitutional Court judges on the amnesty law that magistrates will debate in the plenary session of June 24, 25, and 26 endorses the core of the law and only introduces some nuances about its scope.

According to various media outlets, the report prepared by magistrate Immaculada Montalbán considers that the text is fully constitutional except for three specific points.

Thus, it establishes that the amnesty must also include those who demonstrated against the independence process, it limits its scope of application between November 1, 2011, and November 13, 2023, and obliges the Court of Auditors to hear from private prosecutors before filing accounting cases.

In May, it was leaked that Spain's Constitutional Court is expected to uphold the amnesty law for pro-independence figures. However, this endorsement of the law will not automatically allow former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to return from Belgium, where he has been living since 2017.

The amnesty law for those involved in Catalonia's independence push received final approval by Spain's Congress on May 30, 2024.

The text makes no specific mention of the crime of embezzlement, the main reason for the Supreme Court's reluctance to apply the amnesty law. In this regard, sources from the Constitutional Court point out that the appeal from the conservative People's Party (PP) did not challenge any aspect related to this crime, and, therefore, the ruling does not address it.

Nuances

The draft agrees with the PP on three specific points. The opposition group argued that the law is arbitrary and violates the principle of equality because it affects crimes committed with the aim of promoting the independence of Catalonia, and also actions carried out by police officers, but not other cases. The report establishes that it also includes people who demonstrated against independence. 

The text also modifies the point of the law that stipulates that acts that ended their execution after the deadline of November 13, 2023, can qualify for amnesty. According to the report, this vagueness may be unconstitutional, and, therefore, only actions between November 1, 2011, and November 13, 2023, can qualify.

The third modification refers to the shelving of cases in the Court of Auditors. The law establishes that before ending cases, it is necessary to listen to the criteria of the public prosecutor's office and the public sector entities that have been harmed. The draft also adds private prosecutor accusations.