Catalonia prepares to apply the curfew without the state of alarm
The Government is studying the modification of a decree law to shield the restrictions that will go to the High Court
BarcelonaThe current state of alarm, which runs out on 9 May, is coming to an end. That is why the Government is preparing to shield the restrictions it wants to maintain, which will then have to go to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) if they affect fundamental rights. One of the measures that need judicial endorsement is the curfew -which precisely applies since the current state of alarm began, on October 25-. The Generalitat has assured that it is considering applying it without the state of alarm and is studying the modification of a decree law to try to get the approval of the TSJC for nighttime lockdown.
As explained by the ARA, the fact is that without the protection of the state of alarm it is not guaranteed that the judges will validate the restrictions. The Government will have to argue them and the TSJC will take a decision. Aware that the continuity of the curfew may be endangered in a few days, the Presidency Minister and spokeswoman of the Generalitat, Meritxell Budó, has advanced this Tuesday that the executive council of next week could approve a modification of the decree law 27/2020. It is the decree law that was drafted in summer, when the judge on duty in Lleida overturned the home lockdown in the Segrià, to strengthen the Catalan public health law.
In the summer, it was approved that during a pandemic, activities or movement of people can be restricted. Now the intention of the Government is that this decree law also helps to shield the curfew. Budó has assured that the night lockdown is a "drastic" but "necessary" measure because ICUs still have half a thousand people admitted due to covid: "We are envisaging how to provide ourselves with the regulatory framework to deal with the management of the pandemic without a state of alarm". Budó defended this "legal umbrella" in order to have more tools to justify the measures before the TSJC, but admitted that "the timing of the management of the restrictions will change" because the judicial endorsement will be necessary.
