Over 300 granted amnesty one year on, amid political and judicial questioning

More than 300 people linked to the Catalan independence push have been granted an amnesty in the first year since the law was passed in the Spanish Congress.

The past twelve months have been marked by plenty of questioning from the major opposition party in the chamber, the conservative People's Party, and from several courts, including the Supreme Court.

According to the Alerta Solidària civil society group, 328 people have been granted an amnesty, although the main pro-independence leaders who organized the 2017 independence referendum are still awaiting a decision from the Constitutional Court.

Legal experts believe that the appeals to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could delay the amnesty for several political leaders, such as former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and Esquerra Republicana chief Oriol Junqueras, regardless of the ruling from the Constitutional Court.

Spain's top court is expected to vote on one of the appeals on the amnesty law in late June. Based on the current progressive majority in the court, the court would likely greenlight the amnesty law passed in Congress on May 30, 2024.

At the time, the law planned to "reach an institutional, political, and social normalization" in Catalonia while exempting those linked to the 'procés', or Catalonia's independence push, from any penal or financial responsibility.

A year later, a total of 328 people have been granted an amnesty. Of these, 129 are police and 199 are pro-independence figures. These account for 173 civilians or demonstrators and 26 politicians or public figures, including businesspeople, according to Alerta Solidària.

Days before the amnesty came into force, Spain's public prosecutor estimated that 486 people could benefit from it.

Meanwhile, pro-independence cultural group Òmnium Cultural estimates that 1,610 people in favour of Catalonia splitting from Spain could benefit from the amnesty law, as 691 have judicial procedures. The group estimates that 60% of those requesting an amnesty do not have an open judicial case.

Legal experts

Barcelona's University Pompeu Fabra professor on Jurisprudence, Josep Lluís Martí, considers that even if the Constitutional Court greenlights the law, the Spanish Supreme Court would limit its application.

This is a shared opinion with Joan Lluís Pérez Francesh, teacher of Constitutional Law at Barcelona's Autonomous University. Both say that the Supreme Court could even delay the procedure by asking judicial questions to the ECJ.

Regardless, the time it would be delayed is unknown, as Henri de Waele, professor of European Law at Anvers University and at the University of Nijmegen, says that the ECJ tends to extend the time to decide when referring to controversial or sensitive political judicial cases.

The outcome, however, cannot be known. "It could be that [Spanish PM Pedro] Sánchez does not like the judicial decision, but probably he is not even in government anymore, or the amnesty law is not as important as it is now. We cannot predict the future," de Waele says.

Pro-independence parties

Pro-independence parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana (ERC) agree that judges are to blame for not applying the amnesty law.

The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty law does not apply to Puigdemont, former vice president Oriol Junqueras, and former ministers Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva, and Dolors Bassa, as they are all accused or convicted of the crime of misuse of public funds.

This has prevented Puigdemont from returning to Catalonia permanently, while the other pro-independence leaders are barred from holding public office.

In the case of former ministers in exile Toni Comín and Lluís Puig, Spanish arrest warrants remain in force.