Catalan separatist MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín accused Spain’s Normal Council of the Judiciary of violating “fundamental requirements of the rule of legislation” in a letter despatched to European Fee Vice President and Values and Transparency Commissioner Věra Jourová on Monday.
Within the letter, solely obtained by POLITICO, Puigdemont and Comín argue that the physique, which oversees Spain’s judiciary, just isn’t neutral and has repeatedly overstepped its authorized attributions.
As proof, Puigdemont and Comín cite an institutional declaration issued by the Normal Council by which its members specific concern over the chance that an amnesty could also be granted to folks prosecuted for his or her involvement within the failed 2017 Catalan independence referendum.
The lawmakers argue the declaration runs afoul of Spanish legislation barring judges from publicly supporting or rejecting acts of political authorities. In addition they think about the Normal Council overstepped its authority by assessing the amnesty’s compatibility with Spain’s Structure — an evaluation reserved for the nation’s Constitutional Courtroom — and by proffering an opinion on a legislative textual content being proposed inside the parliament.
Within the letter, Puigdemont and Comín additionally increase considerations over the declaration’s publication on November 6 — per week earlier than Spain’s Socialist Social gathering filed its controversial Catalan separatist amnesty invoice — and cite the textual content’s references to an “alleged” Catalan battle and its characterization of Puigdemont as “a fugitive” as proof of an “overt bias in opposition to the Catalans.”
Puigdemont and Comín conclude by urging Jourová to incorporate the Normal Council’s declaration within the Fee’s Annual Report on the Rule of Regulation.
The Fee has repeatedly raised considerations over the state of the Normal Council of the Judiciary, whose mandate expired in December 2018.
The physique, which is at the moment dominated by a majority of judges appointed by the center-right Well-liked Social gathering, has been working on an interim foundation for the previous 5 years as a result of the ruling Socialist Social gathering and the opposition can’t attain a consensus on its make-up.