Reasons for the TC's support for amnesty: the independence process in Catalonia was a "paradigmatic case of political crisis"

The Constitutional Court today approved the ruling grantingprotectiontotheAmnesty Act , which introduces a deeper analysis of the arguments contained in the draft judgment to conclude that the law "is not a whim". In this regard, the majority of constitutional judges consider the independence process in Catalonia to be a "paradigmatic case of political-constitutional crisis".

The plenary has unsurprisingly dismissed the constitutional complaint filed by the PP and has accepted almost without change the report drafted by the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court, Immaculate Montalbán. The President of the Court, Candide Conde-Pumpido, described the report  as "excellent" at the beginning of the deliberations.

However, the resolution contains a number of new developments, including the consolidation of the reasoning justifying the amnesty of the independence process in Catalonia, in contrast to the PP's arguments that it seeks to achieve a "hidden objective" of "paying for a political agreement that has nothing to do with any purpose of general interest and is only intended to facilitate the investiture of the candidate for the Presidency of the Government".

He doesn't want to value political motivations.

The 205 page ruling recognizes that the Constitutional Court is aware of "the special circumstances in which the amnesty law was passed" and that there is an "express connection" between the adoption of the law and the "investiture of a candidate for the Presidency of the Government".

In this regard, he has stated that "it is clear that every law is, after all, the result of treaties that can serve the immediate means and objectives of political negotiation and agreement".

"This Court neither protects nor condemns such conduct, since it is not its function. It is responsible for examining the law and determining, on the basis of its content, whether there is a legitimate purpose and justification in the general interest."

In this regard, he has made it clear that "an exercise in political realism cannot be expected from this court to investigate and assess underlying political facts which would ultimately explain the intentions of the Members who voted in favour of the law." "The will of the legislator cannot be confused with that of each Member of Parliament," he has stressed.

"It is not under our control to investigate and assess the underlying political facts that may explain the intentions of parliamentarians who voted in favour of the amnesty law," the report says.

It therefore refuses to assess political motivations and makes its analysis "in order to verify whether this decision responds to exceptional circumstances which the legal system cannot resolve with ordinary instruments".

Exceptional situation

To carry out this analysis, the amnesty has been based on the preamble to the law, stating that "the exceptional situation recognized by organic law is to increase the Catalan secessionist process".

It stresses that "the holding of the second referendum in October 2017 and the proclamation of Catalonia's independence led to the implementation of the measures provided for in Article 155 of the Constitution — for the first time during its validity — and that the State assumed the functions of government in the Community".

According to the judgement, "the events experienced during this period constitute the paradigm of the political-constitutional crisis in which the primacy of the Constitution and the unity of the State, in addition to the integrity of the political subject of sovereignty, the Spanish people, the form of State and Government, were compromised".

The organization reiterates that "as a result of these acts, criminal proceedings were instituted and sanctions imposed  to hold accountable those who committed unlawful acts, some of which are still being prosecuted and pending a decision by the courts".

To this must be added that "this constitutional crisis caused a profound social breakdown in Catalonia, affecting the coexistence of citizens, creating extremist antagonisms, dividing society and ultimately compromising the political stability of Catalonia and Spain".