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The worst fears of the Spanish Justice were consummated this Thursday when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Oriol Junqueras had to have been MEP and, therefore, enjoyed all the prerogatives that accompany that position, including the immunity included in the protocol that regulates the operation of the Eurochamber.

"A person elected to the European Parliament acquires the status of a member of that institution since the official proclamation of the results and enjoys from that moment the immunities associated with such condition," concluded the Grand Chamber of Luxembourg .

The ruling is undoubtedly a major blow to the court of the process that, after finishing the oral hearing against the independence leaders, decided to raise the question referred to the CJEU with the full conviction that they would receive the support of Europe after banning the leader from ERC acquire the status of MEP.

After the decision was notified, there were urgent meetings between the members of the court of the procés and in the State Attorney General's Office to analyze the scope of a sentence that calls into question the action of the last Spanish instance in the probably most important cause for the Spanish democracy

However, the magistrates of the Union supported the opinion of their general lawyer, known a month ago, who argued that the acquisition of the parliamentary mandate of the European deputies "results only from the vote of the electors and cannot be subject to the subsequent fulfillment of formality ". And that, therefore, no intermediate procedure, such as the Spanish requirement to comply with the Constitution by going to the Electoral Board , can be mandatory and prevent an elected politician from taking possession of the seat.

"Enjoys immunity after being proclaimed elected"

In addition, in its ruling, Luxembourg emphasizes that the states of the Union must "ensure" after the official proclamation of the election results "the possibility of addressing the first meeting of the new legislature without impediments, in order to comply with the planned procedures and allowing the new legislature to be constituted. "

The President of the CJEU, Koen Lenaerts , in a brief reading of the ruling in Spanish, indicated that "he enjoys immunity by virtue of a person who has been officially proclaimed elected to the European Parliament", even "when he was in provisional detention in criminal proceedings for serious crimes "and that" this immunity implies the lifting of the provisional prison measure in order to allow the interested party to move to the European Parliament and comply there with the required formalities ".

However, the judgment maintains that if the competent national court considers that a provisional prison measure must be maintained - reference is made to the provisional prison because when the question was raised the process had not yet been sentenced - imposed on a person who has acquired as a member of the European Parliament, "you must ask Parliament as soon as possible to suspend the immunity" enjoyed by parliamentarians.

This last idea, embodied in the court's ruling, opens the door for the Chamber presided by Judge Manuel Marchena not to have to release the convicted person to 13 years in prison for crimes of sedition and embezzlement of public flows in the case of 1- OR.

In fact, prosecutors on Thursday issued a report requesting that the penalty of disqualification for public office of the former vice president of the Generalitat be executed "immediately" and that the European Parliament be notified "as soon as possible". Junqueras' situation of punishment "so that they have the appropriate effects in relation to the loss of their status as a parliamentarian". Oriol Junqueras is currently not subject to any precautionary measure, "but rather enforceable," said the Prosecutor's Office in his note.

Arguments against the Supreme

Although the leader of ERC, decisive for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, is no longer in provisional detention, the Grand Chamber has entered to analyze the merits of the matter by understanding that the Supreme Court has considered that "a preliminary ruling is still necessary in order to rule on the appeal that gave rise to the present case and that the questions referred for a preliminary ruling remain relevant. "

"From that same brief and from the statements contained in the order for reference, it is clear that the interpretation requested by the Supreme Court is directly related to the object of the main proceedings and that the problem raised in said dispute and in the request for a preliminary ruling It is not hypothetical, but real, and has not lost its validity after the ruling of October 14, 2019, "they stressed.

The Eurocamara, following the Luxembourg ruling, could decide to lift the blockade that has been underway since summer. Or, if the interpretation of the legal services is different, they can wait until there is a ruling on the cause that both have in turn open before the EU Court itself, in the coming months.

For its part, the defense of Junqueras plans to present a brief before the Supreme Court requesting that they execute the Luxembourg ruling and reestablish the political rights of Oriol Junqueras as a MEP. His defense points to the nullity of the sentence of the process after the decision of Europe.

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Know more

  • European Parliament
  • Supreme Court
  • Oriol Junqueras
  • ERC
  • Europe
  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Manuel Marchena
  • Catalonia independence
  • PSOE
  • Proced judgment

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