Spain takes the committee to study the constitutive process of a potential Catalan Republic before the court
The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) accepted the appeal presented by the Spanish executive against the Parliament’s committee to study the constitutive process of a potential Catalan Republic. According to current Spanish vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the Catalan Government’s first aim was to make it “a legislative” committee but they decided to turn it into a “study committee” in view of its possible unconstitutionality. Furthermore, Spain’s state attorney believes that by launching this committee the Parliament would not be fulfilling the TC sentence which suspended the pro-independence proposal approved in the Catalan chamber on the 9th of November.
Barcelona (CNA).- The Parliament’s committee to study the constitutive process of a potential Catalan Republic will ultimately be taken before the court. The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) accepted this Thursday the appeal presented by the Spanish executive and will, therefore, evaluate its further suspension. According to current Spanish vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the Catalan Government’s first aim was to make it “a legislative” committee but they decided to turn it into a “study committee” in view of its possible unconstitutionality. Furthermore, Spain’s state attorney believes that the committee comes from the pro-independence proposal approved by the Catalan Chamber on the 9th of November and later suspended by the TC. Thus, by launching this committee the Parliament would not be fulfilling the TC sentence which suspended the pro-independence proposal.
The admission paves the way for the TC to warn public servants, in this case those working in the Parliament, and would allow the launching of the new TC powers to fine and even suspend from office those public servants, politicians and authorities who don’t comply with its rulings.
The Spanish executive believes that although the Parliament gave a “study” character to the committee, the real “object and content” of it “breaks the constitutional order” and, in particular, “the sentence which declared unconstitutional and invalid” the pro-independence proposal approved by the Parliament on the 9th of November. “A committee which has been created to study a constitutive process which was declared unconstitutional by the TC can’t be considered legal” stated Sáenz de Santamaría on the 29th of January, when she announced the Spanish executive’s appeal.
For her part, the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, stated that suspension of the committee would be an “attack on the parliamentary democratic system’s essence”.
Other recent suspensions by the TC
Besides the TC’s suspension of the Parliament’s pro-independence declaration proposal in November, a month earlier it suspended for at least five months the reform of the law which would regulate Catalonia’s Tax Agency.
Previously, the TC also suspended the Catalan law for the creation of structures of state and the Law for Foreign Affairs, which is “temporarily suspended”. One of the most controversial suspensions was that of the Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency “which is partially suspended”.
A few weeks ago, Spanish executive also announced that they will present an appeal of unconstitutionality against the law which regulates the activities of sports professions. According to the Spanish government, the law creates “an excess of competitions” since Catalonia “doesn’t have competences to hold international agreements, either with EU member states or other international subjects”.