The amnesty will eliminate the last legal obstacle so that Puigdemont can be president of the Generalitat again
The amnesty designed to measure the fugitive Carles Puigdemont will not only allow him to return immediately to Spain but will also open the door to being president of the Generalitat again even if the Supreme Court does not apply the Law within a period of two months because you first decide to appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union or the Constitutional Court.
According to legal sources informing EL MUNDO, the instructor of the process Pablo Llarena plans to annul the national search and arrest order against Puigdemont once the proposal of the Organic Law of Amnesty for institutional, political and social normalization in Catalonia go into effect. Furthermore, the PSOE and Junts have tried to shield this action of the magistrate in the amendment process by introducing a section where it is established that “the judicial body that is hearing the case will proceed to annul the search and capture and entry orders.” in prison of the people to whom this amnesty applies.
Thus, Puigdemont will be able to return to Spain, a country that he left in the fall of 2017 after unilaterally declaring the independence of Catalonia.. During his journey through Europe as a fugitive from Spanish Justice, the leader of Junts has been able to run in the Catalan elections but has not been able to be sworn in as president of the Generalitat because he needed to attend the Plenary Session of the Parliament in person.
In 2018, the fugitive presented himself as a parliamentary candidate to preside over the Generalitat and attempted to take office electronically but the Constitutional Court prevented him from doing so.. The body of constitutional guarantees ruled that “the candidate for president of the Generalitat must appear personally before the Chamber”. The TC maintained that neither the Constitution nor the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia “expressly establishes” that the candidate for the presidency of the Government must appear in person before the Chamber in order to hold the investiture session but added that “this requirement, however , is implicit in these norms”, given the parliamentary nature of this procedure and the very configuration of the investiture. In the resolution, the Constitutional Court assured that “the intervention of the candidate in the investiture session is an essential element so that the Chamber can correctly form its will.”. “Therefore, it is not possible for another deputy to replace him or act on his behalf in this procedure,” thus closing the door to a telematic investiture.
However, once back in Spain, Puigdemont will have no impediment to run in the next Catalan elections and be sworn in as president if he wins.
Application of the law
In the proposed Amnesty Law, both the PSOE, Junts and ERC have tried to reduce the margin of interpretation of the judges on the norm. However, different legal sources consulted doubt that the new wording on terrorist crimes will serve to pass the filter of European justice.
Currently, the Supreme Court – the jurisdictional body that will have to apply the amnesty to the former members of the Generalitat of Catalonia – can go both to the CJEU (if it considers that the Law contravenes Union law) and to the Constitutional Court, if appreciates views contrary to the Magna Carta. If the TS decides to go to Europe first, the TC will have to wait for the European ruling before resolving the unconstitutionality issues that fall on its table.