The Constitutional Court takes a stand against Puigdemont: it maintains the arrest warrant while considering amnesty.

MadridThe Constitutional Court is avoiding preemptively ruling on amnesty for Carles Puigdemont and refusing to lift the arrest warrant that prevents his return to Catalonia. At least while it is still examining the merits of the case. The Court unanimously rejected on Tuesday the precautionary measures requested by Puigdemont, Toni Comín, and Lluís Puig in their appeals for protection against the Supreme Court's refusal to apply the amnesty law to them. Throughout, the Court argued that waiting for the final ruling would not cause "irreparable harm" and that, on the contrary, issuing a decision now would constitute "premature judgment." The final verdict, expected in the coming months, will have to determine whether the alleged misuse of public funds by the government of October 1st falls within the scope of the amnesty. So far, the Supreme Court—led by Manuel Marchena and Pablo Llaren—has repeatedly ruled that it does not. The Constitutional Court's decision is thethe same one that tookwith the cases of Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa, who demanded that the disqualifications, which are in force until 2030 and 2031, be lifted.

In the appeal for protection of fundamental rights filed by the leader of Junts last July, lawyer Gonzalo Boye argued that approving the precautionary measures would not anticipate the final decision, but rather prevent a more serious violation because, if he decided to set foot in Spain, he would end up in prison. The document, to which ARA had access, argued that, with its refusal, the Supreme Court is violating Puigdemont's right to freedom of movement (because it maintains the arrest warrant in Spanish territory), his right to political participation, and his right to equality. It denounced that the Supreme Court is not competent to decide on his case because the October 1st referendum took place in Catalonia and that Pablo Llarena has violated his right to effective judicial protection and the principle of legality in criminal law by deciding that he would not be granted amnesty. "The Supreme Court has emptied the law of its content, it has turned the exception into the rule," it maintained. "It creates a dysfunction in the system of democratic guarantees by establishing a double standard of legality incompatible with the principle of equality before the law," he added. He also recalled that the law was upheld by the Constitutional Court and, therefore, "all jurisdictional bodies" must "preserve" its "effectiveness."

Two months ago, in November, after the conclusions of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) about amnesty In the preliminary questions – which were presented by the Court of Auditors and the National Court – Gonzalo Boye submitted a new document demanding that it be applied The law should be applied "urgently and preferentially." Puigdemont's lawyer urged the Constitutional Court to lift the arrest warrant so that the appeal for protection "does not lose its purpose without further excuses or unjustifiable delays."