The Plenary Session of the Constitutional Court (TC) has unanimously dismissed this Wednesday, the appeal for protection presented by the former Minister of the Interior of the Generalitat of Catalonia Meritxell Borràs against the ruling of the ‘procés’, the first against this ruling that the court of guarantees resolves.
The TC has rejected the claims of Borràs, who in the sentence handed down on October 14, 2019 by the Supreme Court was convicted of a crime of disobedience to a fine of ten monthswith a daily fee of 200 euros.
The magistrates have endorsed the jurisdiction of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court (TS) to prosecute this procedure, in response to the status of the accused as authorized persons since part of the acts were committed abroad, as reported by the TC. it’s a statement.
The ruling, which will be notified in the coming days, considers that said jurisdiction has an unquestionable explicit legal basis to extend to those responsible for connection.
Be judged by the TSJC
One of the key arguments of Borràs’ challenge was related to the competence of the Supreme Court to judge the Catalan independence leaders, an issue always discussed by those already convicted and which has been included in all appeals for protection.
The presentation on this matter by Judge Cándido Conde-Pumpido supports the thesis of the TS regarding its jurisdiction to learn about the cause of rebellionwhich has been defended by the Chamber chaired by Manuel Marchena since the beginning of the procedure.
The Supreme Court has always defended its jurisdiction by understanding that, in the case of the crimes of rebellion and sedition – for which they were finally convicted -, Spanish law disregards the place of commission of the acts when attributing knowledge of this conduct to Spanish jurisdiction..
Thus, since it is also a crime that affects the entire State, Jurisdiction was granted to the TS instead of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC)which is where the independence leaders demanded to be tried.
Response to Belgium
The position of the TC on This matter gains relevance after the decision of the Belgian justice to reject the surrender of the escaped former councilor Lluis Puigprecisely for accepting his arguments of lack of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court regarding the investigation of the case that Judge Pablo Llarena continues to bring against him.
In fact, the defenses of other convicts, of the former councilors Jordi Turull and Josep Rull and the former president of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) Jordi Sànchez, have recently requested the TC for their release, using the same reasons given by the justice system. Belgian not to arrest and hand over Puig.
According to his writings, the direct consequence that should be predicated of the resolution of the Belgian Court of Appeal should be “the declaration of nullity of the Judgment dated October 14, 2019, issued in violation of fundamental rights“.
They refer to argument used by Belgian judges to consider that there is no explicit legal basis to expand the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to try the co-accused on the basis of the close connection between the crimes charged, which were rebellion/sedition and embezzlement of public funds.
The condemned allege the existence of a violation of the right to the ordinary judge predetermined by the Law because the Supreme Court has assumed territorial jurisdiction that did not correspond to it to prosecute the facts, additionally depriving them of their right to a double instance.
First resort
Borràs’ is the first appeal against the procès ruling that the Constitutional Court has resolved and, with regard to said argument, will be applied to those presented by the rest of the convictedwhose resources, including that of former vice president Oriol Junqueras, will be seen in the coming months.
The resolution of these appeals was paralyzed by the dozen challenges presented against the TC magistrate Antonio Narváez due to statements made in 2017, within the framework of a conference titled ‘The Catalan problem, constitutional perspective’, in which he spoke about what occurred in terms of a “covert coup d’état”.
On Tuesday, the Plenary unanimously accepted Narváez’s decision to abstain from participating in the resolution of said appeals. The magistrate has also declined the presentations that would have corresponded to him, those related to the appeals for protection of the former counselor Dolors Bassa and the former president of the Parliament Carme Forcadell.
Narváez, former prosecutor and member of the conservative sector of the TC, considers that with this decision “he contributes to making explicit the independence and impartiality of the Court to which he is honored to belong,” according to another statement.
