The CJEU rules in favor of Puigdemont and annuls the European Parliament's decision to withdraw his immunity.

BrusselsEuropean justice rules in favor of Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín, and Clara Ponsatí. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday overturned the decision of the March 2021 The European Parliament has ruled against removing the immunity of the former Junts MEPs at the request of the Spanish Supreme Court, which wanted to try them for sedition, misuse of public funds, and disobedience in the case of the October 1, 2017 referendum. Thus, the highest court in the European Parliament, along with the Advocate General of the CJEU, has accepted the appeal of the former president of the Generalitat and the former ministers. In any case, the ruling has no immediate effect because none of the three involved are currently MEPs, including Comín, although he was elected by Catalans in the 2014 elections. Puigdemont and Ponsatí did not run in the European Parliament elections and are not running in the European Parliament elections. In the case of the former Minister of Health, although he was elected as an MEP, the European Parliament did not award him his seat because he did not go to Madrid to swear allegiance to the Constitution. In fact,It is another decision that the former Minister of HealthThe case has been taken to the Luxembourg courts and must be resolved in the coming months.

Comín assures ARA that Thursday's ruling will reactivate the process in another case concerning immunity. Should the CJEU again contradict the GCEU, which ruled in a July 5, 2023 judgment that Comín could not enjoy immunity to travel to Spain, the former Minister of Health could travel to Spain and, therefore, swear allegiance to the Constitution and receive his credentials as a Member of the European Parliament.

Although this is now a judicial pronouncement without immediate effects, at the time, the removal of immunity from the then-MEPs of Junts caused quite a stir. It was a key step towards the possible extradition of the former president and the former ministers into exile at the hands of the Spanish justice system. In any case, it represents a moral victory for the former Junts MEPs.

Vox and the impartiality of the European Parliament

Luxembourg has accepted the arguments presented by the defense of Puigdemont, Comín, and Ponsatí, asserting that the impartiality of the proceedings cannot be guaranteed when Vox, the party that initiated the case against the President of the Generalitat and the former ministers, was also one of the European Parliament rapporteurs who decided to withdraw it (European Reformists Group). In this regard, Luxembourg considers that "the potential affinities between them may raise legitimate doubts about the impartiality of the rapporteur," the Bulgarian Angel Dzhambazki, and maintains that the European Parliament "must exclude a rapporteur who belongs to the same political group as members of the political party that initiated the criminal proceedings." "The rapporteur may be perceived as biased, and their appointment is contrary to the right to good administration," the opinion concludes.

Furthermore, the CJEU highlights an "element particularly relevant due to the requirement of impartiality" which the GC "overlooked." On March 6, 2019, MEP Dzhambazki organized an event with the Secretary General of Vox at the European Parliament entitled Catalonia is part of SpainFurthermore, the highest court in the European Union points out that the Spanish far-right party had already initiated proceedings against Puigdemont, Comín, and Ponsatí. This detail, according to Luxembourg, is not only "indicative" of the rapporteur's and Vox's "support for the political ideas" regarding the situation in Catalonia, "but also of a position favorable to the prosecution of the MEPs." Far from admitting its error, Vox has already criticized the ruling and labeled the CJEU "biased." "The fact that the court itself endorses the removal of immunity and then decides whether this removal was impartial demonstrates the extent to which we are facing a flawed judicial system. The bias is not a suspicion: it is evident," MEP Jorge Buxadé stated in a message posted on social media.