The Constitutional Court delays Puigdemont's amnesty: "It's unlikely to be resolved before Christmas."

MadridThe decision of Carles Puigdemont's defense to recuse three judges of the Constitutional Court (TC) The Constitutional Court (TC) had already predicted a delay in the timeframe for deciding on the amnesty for the former president of the Generalitat. This Thursday, the president of the Constitutional Court (TC), Cándido Conde-Pumpido, confirmed this at a luncheon with journalists. "It will be difficult for them to be resolved before Christmas," he said regarding the appeals for protection of constitutional rights by both Puigdemont and former ministers Toni Comín and Lluís Puig. Conde-Pumpido attributed this "delay" of at least a month compared to the initially planned timeframe—the TC expected to admit them for processing in early September, but will finally do so in next week's plenary session—to the court's decision to try to remove conservative judges José María Macías, Enrique Arnaldo, and Concepción Espejel.

The move by lawyer Gonzalo Boye generated confusion in the Constitutional Court which, according to its president, has sought from the outset to "speed up" the resolution of this issue because delaying it "generates a disturbance in the legal system." Thus, Conde-Pumpido claimed that they issued a ruling on the PP's appeal against the amnesty in nine months, when other controversial appeals by the PP, such as those filed against the Statute of Catalonia and against former president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's abortion law, took four and twelve years, respectively, to be resolved. Conde-Pumpido defended having endorsed the constitutionality of the amnesty—arguing that it would be "strange" if Spain were "the only country in the EU that couldn't approve it"—although he declined to elaborate on how the major outstanding issue will be resolved: whether embezzlement, which is what prevents it from being amnestied, can be granted.

We won't know until 2026, according to Conde-Pumpido's calculations, because, in addition, next week's plenary session, which also has the appeal from the Aragon Parliament against the amnesty on the table, will not delve into this issue in depth. Constitutional Court sources point out that, although the autonomous community mentions this crime, the ruling resolving it "will not make an explicit reference" to embezzlement, but rather a "minimal" one. The intention, as reported by court sources, is to ensure that what is said about embezzlement in response to the Aragon Parliament's appeals for protection cannot be interpreted as applicable to the amparo appeals of the leaders of the 1-O referendum. An "abstract" appeal to the law, such as the Aragonese one, cannot "prejudge" the applicability of the law in a specific case, they add.

Thus, next week the Constitutional Court will admit Puigdemont's appeal and, in all likelihood, will reject the request for the immediate lifting of his arrest warrant in Spain. If this precautionary measure is denied, a process of allegations will be opened for the parties to consider whether to accept this request as a precautionary measure before resolving the merits of the appeal for protection, but the sources consulted indicate that this option (which would allow Puigdemont's immediate return) would also be unsuccessful. In parallel, next week's plenary session will also consider the first question of unconstitutionality, the one presented by the Supreme Court in a case of public disorder involving an activist from Girona. Conde-Pumpido has advanced that in these cases there will be no surprises and that everything will be resolved in accordance with the doctrine established at the end of June in the ruling that approved the rule.

When will the Constitutional Court be able to definitively close the amnesty file? Conde-Pumpido has warned that there are still "many months" left for all pending issues to be definitively resolved and has not guaranteed that this can be done before the summer of next year. The term of the President of the Constitutional Court expires at the end of December, but he will remain in office until a replacement is appointed. The lack of bridges between the PP and PSOE suggests that he will have to extend it, although Conde-Pumpido has noted that he "cannot predict" what will happen during 2026 because "it is likely" that he will step down as president of the body. Also relevant during this period is the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which must rule on preliminary questions related to embezzlement. There is an initial date circled in red, in this regard, which is November 13, when the Advocate General is due to make his initial pronouncement. What it says isn't binding, but it usually guides the court's decision.

The PP's criticism

The People's Party (PP) has repeatedly attacked Conde-Pumpido, presenting him as a puppet of Pedro Sánchez. The president of the Constitutional Court defended the professionalism of the Constitutional Court: "Whoever disqualifies the Constitutional Court from a political perspective is disqualifying themselves, because we have been elected by the four branches of government," said Conde-Pumpido. He argued that "no state institution can criticize the other branches" and denied that the Constitutional Court is invading the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court by admitting appeals like Puigdemont's. "We received 6,500 appeals for constitutional protection [in 2024 alone], we granted 17, and then they accuse us of evading our powers," he lamented.

Conde-Pumpido has made the same argument with the sentences issued. "Of the 498 we have, we are criticized for two, the amnesty and the ERE [of Andalusia], when we have said many other things," he argued. The Constitutional Court is also in the PP's sights due to conflicts of jurisdiction. Although the Popular Party (PP) claims to distrust the Constitutional Court because it has a progressive majority - Esteban González Pons, spokesperson in the European Parliament, went so far as to say that it was the "cancer of the state", the cancer of the state -, PSOE.

The Constitutional Court will have to resolve, for example, whether Congress, with the "blockade" denounced by the PP of the regulations sent by the Senate, is trampling on the powers that the Constitution attributes to the upper house. The PP also threatens to take a dispute with the Spanish government to the "Senate" "at least three months before the expiration of those of the previous year." Those of 2023 are still extended.