Puigdemont appeals the ruling of the European Court that upheld his loss of immunity

Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí presented an appeal last Friday before the Court of Justice of the EU against the decision of the General Court, of July 5, which endorsed the procedure by which the European Parliament ended up lifting its immunity , at the request of the Spanish Supreme Court. The three MEPs have accelerated the deadline, but according to what the court itself reported this Monday, they have not presented, at least yet, a request for precautionary measures..

This decision is striking and relevant.. In July, the General Court dismissed two lawsuits from the pro-independence leaders. The first against the decision itself of the plenary session of Parliament to respond positively to the request of the Spanish Justice to lift the immunity that has allowed and continues to allow them to avoid surrender by the Belgian authorities. The second, a minor issue in comparison, was against the refusal of the president of the chamber, in 2019, to support a petition on immunity.

The decision of the magistrates in July leaves the Belgian judges almost without arguments, who have shown themselves incredibly capable and willing to look for any loophole to reject the euro orders of magistrate Pablo Llarena. But it does not put an end to the process, because this appeal was still possible before the last instance, the Court of Justice.. After years of victories in courts across the continent, the process is tilting against the interests of the independence supporters. Judge Llarena, with this decision, could reactivate the Euroorder to demand the arrest and surrender of Puigdemont and Comín (Ponsatí already appeared in Spain after the change in legislation approved by the Government of Pedro Sánchez).

But the fact that there is no request for precautionary measures is singular.. Until now, the requested MEPs have constantly requested them and Luxembourg has maintained a changing approach. First he accepted, then he rectified. He considered that there was no danger of them being arrested, but when Spain attempted to capture them during Puigdemont's trip to Italy there was deep anger.. The decision of the CJEU was that everything was still until the final sentence was pronounced, the one in July.. And that was so true for the Belgian judges that they indicated that they will not rule on any case until then.. As for the Spanish authorities, to the annoyance of Llarena, who considered that he had every right to act.

When two months ago the ruling said that the petition procedure had been correct, rejecting the allegations of the pro-independence legal team (that the rapporteur of the case was politically against them, that their rights had not been guaranteed by having hearings by videoconference by first time in history and not in person, etc.), that technically left the three without immunity. Puigdemont and Comín in fact did not attend the July session in Strasbourg for fear of being arrested.. The Euro-orders have not yet been reactivated, but it seemed that there would in any case be a new request for precautionary measures, which if granted would serve to guarantee their rights of parliamentary immunity until this appeal is resolved..

Months to speak out

Times are interesting. Now the CJEU will take a few months to rule, but the legislature is about to end, since in June there will be European elections again. At the same time, the crimes for which Puigdemont and Comín are accused are no longer the same as five years ago, due to changes in the Penal Code.. And everything comes, furthermore, while the PSOE and Sumar negotiate with the independence movement an amnesty that would free the former president from prison..

In any case, there is no deadline to file a request for precautionary measures, and it can be done at any time until the main issues are resolved, in theory already in the first quarter of 2024. Llarena could now request his surrender, even before waiting for the appeal, but the decision would once again remain in the hands of the Belgian national courts..

The CJEU resolved an important case in January to establish a position once and for all. It is the one that affected the other escaped former minister, Lluis Puig, the only one who is still in Belgium but has never been an MEP.. Llarena sent a series of preliminary questions to Luxembourg to definitively clarify whether a Belgian judge can question the body that sends a Euroorder or decide by more than lax criteria that there are no guarantees for those claimed.. The Court said that the executing judicial authority cannot refuse, in principle, to execute a European arrest warrant on the basis of the lack of jurisdiction of the court that will prosecute the wanted person in the issuing Member State.”. But with a sufficiently broad point of ambiguity that, perhaps, the always suspicious Belgians want to cling to.