The European justice will rule on the amnesty on July 16

BrusselsThere is now a date for the final ruling of the European justice on the amnesty law. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announced this Thursday that on July 16 it will rule on the preliminary rulings submitted by the Court of Auditors for the application of the amnesty in the case of expenses related to the referendum of October 1, 2017, and the National Court for the case of Operation Judes against the CDRs. The verdict from Luxembourg will be key to the judicial future of dozens of pro-independence leaders and activists, such as the leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, and that of Esquerra, Oriol Junqueras.

Also awaiting the CJEU's ruling is the Constitutional Court (TC), which wants to see Luxembourg's verdict before ruling on the appeals for protection filed by exiled pro-independence leaders convicted of embezzlement for organizing the October 1st referendum, and who appealed against the Supreme Court's decision to deny them amnesty. Although at first the TC expected to rule on the appeal for protection next month, sources close to the court itself report that it finally plans to issue an opinion in September or October, as its last plenary session before going on vacation is on July 20.

The preliminary rulings being evaluated by the European court ask about the application of the amnesty for expenses related to October 1st and, in the case of the CDRs, about their accusation of terrorism, but it is expected that Luxembourg, in order to answer the doubts of the Spanish courts, will also have to rule on the substance of the matter: does the law agreed by Sánchez and the main pro-independence parties comply with European Union law?

In this regard, the Advocate General of the CJEU, who issues non-binding opinions, but which usually indicate the direction of the final ruling, largely supported the measure, ruling that the nature of an amnesty is that of an exceptional measure and that it applies in specific cases, such as the post-Process. Therefore, the Advocate General of the CJEU does not consider that it puts legal certainty at risk or constitutes discrimination for ideological reasons. "The amnesty law allows a sufficiently clear line to be drawn between conduct eligible for amnesty and conduct that, due to its seriousness, must continue to be subject to the criminal penalty regime established by European legislation itself," the lawyer added.

Reconciliation

Although he assured that the law is contrary to Community legislation because it restricts the maximum period that the measure gives to the Court of Auditors to analyze the request of a defendant to benefit from it to only two months, he denied that it goes against the financial interests of the EU and defended its objective of political and social reconciliation. "It does not constitute a self-amnesty," concluded the lawyer, thus contradicting the arguments of the Spanish right and which was defended by the European Commission itself at the hearing of the trial in Luxembourg last summer. Thus, the Advocate General of the CJEU completely dismantles the argument of the Spanish justice system, which considers that the expenses related to the Procés that aimed at the independence of Catalonia would have caused a reduction in gross domestic product (GDP) – a reference index used to calculate the wealth of a country – and, therefore, of the EU and its budget, which would force the rest of the member states to increase their contribution to the European bloc.

Taking into account the position of the ECJ's advocate general, Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, is confident that the court in Luxembourg will defend the amnesty. "I believe the ruling will prove us right", he said in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, as reported by ACN. Boye even believes that the final ruling "will further narrow the advocate general's criteria to close off any possibility of new preliminary questions reaching him". However, the lawyer for the leader of Junts is less confident about the Spanish justice system and whether it will heed Luxembourg's opinion. "They can always surprise. [...]. State courts are another matter, they even rewrite the law", he added.

ERC is confident that the ruling will endorse the advocate general's criteria and that, subsequently, "without delay, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court will make possible the full application of the amnesty, putting an end to the judicialization of politics".