The bill agreed upon by the PSOE and its partners implies amnesty for crimes and administrative and accounting responsibilities linked to the independence consultations held in Catalonia on November 9, 2014 and October 1, 2017. The measure also covers actions, committed between 2012 and the present, that consist of “claiming, promoting or seeking the secession or independence of Catalonia.” Possible appeals against the law do not suspend its application, but the courts, which have two months to apply the rule once it comes into force, can present issues of unconstitutionality that delay the effects of the grace measure. However, Carles Puigdemont will be able to return to Spain without fear of being arrested when the rule comes into force, although the case opened against him in the Supreme Court may take time to be filed.
Who benefits from the amnesty? The law will benefit, according to its promoters, almost 400 people, including politicians and public officials, citizens prosecuted for the riots following the 2019 ruling, and police officers. The amnesty includes those prosecuted for the 9-N 2014 consultation promoted by Artur Mas’ Government and those who are prosecuted for the preparation of the 1-O 2017 referendum and for the altercations registered after the Supreme Court ruling, in October 2019. Amnesty was also granted for actions committed between 2012 and the present that are not directly related to these consultations, but that consist of “claiming, promoting or seeking the secession or independence of Catalonia.” The law thus covers both the disqualification sentence that Oriol Junqueras and other members of the Government who were tried in the Supreme Court still have to serve, and the case opened against Carles Puigdemont and the former councilors who fled with him to Brussels. In addition, the former senior officials of the Generalitat accused of the preparations for the illegal referendum and the international promotion of the referendum will not be tried. processes that are being investigated in Barcelona courts. The case of the Democratic Tsunami investigated by Judge Manuel García Castellón in the National Court and which affects Puigdemont and Marta Rovira, as well as the procedure against the CDR, on which it had already been opened, also remains within the amnesty. oral trial. Likewise, the police officers and civil guards prosecuted for crimes of injuries in the 1-O will be amnestied, around 73 agents, according to calculations by the negotiators.
What is excluded from the amnesty? The bill does not cover acts against persons that have resulted in death, abortion or injury to the fetus, the loss or uselessness of an organ or member, the loss or uselessness of a sense, impotence, sterility or a serious deformity. The crimes of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment are also excluded in accordance with article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, “as long as they exceed a minimum severity threshold.” Police Justice (Jupol) and the Unified Police Union (SUP), the two main organizations of agents, are based on this precept to ensure that the grace measure can leave out “the vast majority of the agents accused” for their action during the altercations recorded during 1-O, reports Oscar Lopez-Fonseca. The union reaches this conclusion after considering that the law leaves out the crimes of attack on moral integrity (inflicting degrading treatment on another person, seriously undermining their dignity), which are charged to 45 members of the security forces prosecuted. . Acts classified as terrorist crimes were not amnesty either, but only when a final sentence had already been handed down. This requirement allows, in principle, to apply the amnesty to the CDR and Carles Puigdemont and Marta Rovira even if they have been accused of terrorism in the cause of the Democratic Tsunami.
How will the amnesty be applied? To be effective, the amnesty law must be applied by each court that has already issued a sentence or that has opened a procedure affected by the pardon measure. The bill establishes that the courts will apply the amnesty, “on a preferential and urgent basis”, for which a maximum period of two months is given. The court will eliminate the criminal record derived from that conviction and the search and arrest warrants and imprisonment orders, as well as national, European and international arrest warrants, will be void. The entry into force of the law will immediately annul the precautionary measures that have been adopted on any of the beneficiaries, which will require the return of the deposits imposed, for example, in the Court of Accounts, which partially endorsed the Generalitat.
What happens if the law is appealed? The amnesty can be appealed before the Constitutional Court by deputies, senators or the autonomous communities, but the bill establishes that the appeals “will not have suspensive effects”, so the amnesty will be applied within a period of two months, either not appealed. The case of unconstitutionality issues before the Constitutional Court that may be presented by the courts that have to apply the norm is different. Article 35 of the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court establishes that the raising of a question of unconstitutionality “will give rise to the provisional suspension of the proceedings in the judicial process” until the Constitutional Court issues a ruling. This implies, according to legal sources, that the judges who open this route will not issue the final resolution of dismissal of that case while the Constitutional Court does not rule. However, some sources warn that the text of the bill, by establishing that the resources do not have suspensive effects, does not clarify whether this clause also affects issues of unconstitutionality.
Will Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín or Marta Rovira be able to travel to Spain without fear of being arrested? The case for sedition and embezzlement against the fugitives of the processes It is investigated in the Supreme Court and it will be the Criminal Chamber (not the instructor, Pablo Llarena) that must apply the amnesty law and decide, where appropriate, whether to raise the issue of unconstitutionality. Everything indicates that it will do so, which, in principle, will mean the suspension of the procedure, unless, as some sources point out, the judges interpret that the amnesty law limits the suspensive effects of questions of unconstitutionality. However, the sources are inclined to consider that, in the case of the fugitives, if the Supreme Court goes to the court of guarantees, their case cannot be filed immediately, but neither could they be detained or any judicial measure taken against them. so, in principle, they could return to Spain without risking arrest.
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Will Puigdemont, Rovira and Oriol Junqueras be able to run in the next Generalitat elections? The former Catalan president, Rovira and the rest of the politicians who are fugitives from Spanish justice are not disqualified, so, if they return to Spain, they could stand for elections, although the amnesty had not been fully applied pending the possible unconstitutionality issues. The case of Oriol Junqueras and the pro-independence leaders convicted by the Supreme Court are different, and their prison sentences were pardoned, but they continue to serve the disqualification sentence. This sentence expires with the amnesty, but if the high court elevates the case to the Constitutional Court, the disqualification will remain in force until there is a response, legal sources point out, except in the case in which it is interpreted that the rule obliges the court to apply the amnesty. within two months, even if you go to the guarantee court. Legal sources indicate that, in any case, those affected could ask the Constitutional Court for precautionary measures so that the application of the amnesty is not suspended while the court resolves the issue raised by the Supreme Court.
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