Spain's Constitutional Court agrees to hear appeals from Catalan leaders denied amnesty

Spain's Constitutional Court has agreed to hear appeals filed by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and ex-ministers Toni Comín and Lluís Puig against the Supreme Court ruling that excluded them from the amnesty law.

The Supreme Court cited misuse of public funds as grounds to deny the amnesty to the Catalan pro-independence figures in April, but in a decision published on Tuesday, Spain's highest court announced it would admit the appeals for review.

Four judges on the 12-member court voted against admitting the appeals.

The Constitutional Court also rejected an urgent request from the Catalan pro-independence figures to lift Spanish arrest warrants currently in place.

The court did not find that there was the required "exceptional urgency" to  suspend the warrants immediately but has opened a separate case to study the matter.

The president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, said on Thursday that he does not expect the court to resolve the amnesty appeals before Christmas.

Amnesty law

The Spanish Congress voted in May 2024 to grant amnesty to those involved in the pro-independence push.

Although the law officially came into force the following month, legal appeals have prevented its application to Puigdemont, Comín, and Puig, who remain living in Belgium due to outstanding arrest warrants in Spain.