law

As Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart face up to 15 years in jail, their lawyers ask for patience and peaceful protest

The Barcelona Bar Association says crime of inciting riotous uprising is invented

Spanish prosecutor has said it will do whatever it takes, and is even considering charges of rebellion, an offence punishable by 15 to 25 years in prison

The bill will provide a provisional constitutional framework after a declaration of independence if the “yes” vote wins on Oct 1 referendum

The debate is intense in the chamber and also in the hallways of the Catalan Parliament

Parties in Catalonia and Madrid against independence roundly reject proposed legislation for founding a Catalan republic calling it a ‘ruse’ that will never be implemented

It is meant to provide legal framework for independence if Yes wins in October 1 referendum

What can we expect as we approach the October 1 referendum on independence?

Government spokesman calls court’s stance ‘political and legal indecency’ and vows defense of amendment’s constitutionality

Exterior ministry publishes memorandum justifying the legislation and presenting it as ‘a democratic response’ to the ongoing conflict with Spain

The proposal to be taken to the Spanish Congress suggests modifying penal code to exempt those who help provide terminally ill with ‘safe, peaceful and painless’ death

The Commission for Economic Affairs adopts the draft law that could set the basis for a Catalan fiscal system separate from Spain's

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) has unanimously suspended a substantial part of the Catalan law for popular non-binding referenda, approved seven years ago in 2010. In particular, the magistrates have annulled the section which refers to calling a referendum at an autonomic level. They believe that this kind of referendum “is not foreseen in the Spanish Constitution nor in the State’s legislation”. Moreover, the TC has also decided to suspend the creation of the National Transition Advisory Council, a body created through a Catalan Government decree and aimed at beginning the necessary measures for completing Catalonia’s pro-independence process. In this fashion, the TC accepted the appeal presented by the Spanish Government, which claimed that the Catalan law for non-binding referenda was unconstitutional. 

The laws for “disconnecting” Catalonia from Spain will not become effective unless the ‘Yes’ to independence wins the 2017 referendum. The spokesman of radical left pro-independence CUP’s national secretariat, Quim Arrufat, said in an interview with the Catalan News Agency that “no step forward will be made unless it is supported through the ballot boxes”. According to Arrufat, all the disconnection laws (the Legal Transition, the Catalan Tax Office and the Social Security System regulations) will have a clause that will impede them from entering into force if the ‘No’ to independence achieves a majority in the referendum. The politician focused on the legal transition law, which foresees the process for the Autonomous Community of Catalonia to become an independent state. He specified that the regulation will be applied in two steps, as part of the law will have to become effective before the referendum in order to call it even if the Spanish Government blocks it. The other clauses would only come into force in case of a pro-independence majority in the referendum.

The Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, presented this Wednesday the draft of the Law on the Catalan Community Abroad, which is set to be passed in 2017. The Parliament rejected the two amendments of the whole bill submitted by Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’ (C's) and the Catalan Conservative People’s Party (PPC) and therefore the law has now started its parliamentary process. The arrival of this bill in the Parliament is a step forward for the recognition of the Catalan community abroad, a historical demand. Romeva explained that its aim is “to recognise the Catalans abroad as subjects with rights and duties and addressees of the work of the Government”. One of the central aspects of the new law is the Register of Catalans living abroad, which Romeva described as “key”. “It should be the tool by which the Government can identify the citizens who live abroad”, he stressed.