Pardon: a measure "of grace" in the hands of the Government

• Government.The Minister of Justice announces that the pardons for those sentenced by the 1-O will begin to be processed next week

• Judgment of 1-O. The Supreme sentenced Junqueras to 13 years for sedition with embezzlement and between nine and 12 to the rest of those imprisoned for the 'procés'

The Minister of Justice, Juan Carlos Campo, announced this Tuesday that the processing of petitions for pardon of those convicted of the

will be activated

.

This means that the Executive will seek the opinions of the

and the

of the Supreme Court that issued the sentence.

When it has them on the table, the Government will be able to make whatever decision it wants.

What is the pardon and how is it activated? It is a measure of grace that empowers the Government to forgive a sentence for reasons of "justice, equity or public utility."

To be able to request it, it is necessary that the sentence be firm, something that in the case of the

occurred immediately when the Supreme Court sentence was issued.

The first petition referring to the

reached the Ministry of Justice in January from the Catalan lawyer

.

The request reached the 12 convicted by 1-O.

No one else, because you cannot ask for a pardon from fugitives like

or others pending trial or sentence linked to the

.

These cases do not meet the two requirements: that there is a firm conviction and that it is available to the Justice. Who can request it? Usually the convicted person does it, but any person can request a pardon, without even the need for the concerned give your authorization.

This is what happened in that first petition referring to the

.

It can also be promoted by the court that issued the sentence, the Prosecutor's Office, the Penitentiary Surveillance judge or the Government.

The request is addressed to the Ministry of Justice and can be made online.

The Ministry even offers a form for it: imprisonment, disqualification, fines ... what scope can it have? It can be total or partial.

In the first case, any penalty that has not yet been served is forgiven.

In the second, the most frequent, the sentence is usually lowered to the figure of two years in prison, which already allows release.

The disqualification penalty imposed by the Supreme Court in the 1-O trial can also be pardoned, which would allow the beneficiaries to return to public office.

It would not be possible to free those convicted of embezzlement from the return of those funds, but in the case of the

the determination of the amount was left to the Court of Auditors.

Those who were only convicted of disobedience were fined.

This can be pardoned if it has not yet been paid. What process should be followed now? Once a pardon has been requested, there are two main and unavoidable procedures: seek the opinion of the court that issued the sentence and that of the Prosecutor's Office.

Of course, the opinions are not binding, the Government can grant the pardon even if it has received the most angry refusal of the court and the prosecutor.

The processing and granting of a pardon is individual, so formally it is not possible to resolve all the cases of the

jointly. How long will it take to resolve? Sources of Justice estimate that the resolution of the pardons of the

will take about six months.

The first request came in January, but the matter has been paralyzed by the Covid-19 crisis.

And that despite the fact that the Government decided that the processing of pardons was not suspended.

If this period of another six months is met, it would be a much more agile process than usual. Can the granting of a pardon be appealed? Yes.

The archaic Pardon Law, of 1870, indicates that it is a measure of grace of the Government, but the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court indicates that this does not exempt the concession from being motivated, even if it is minimally.

Once published in a royal decree in the BOE, the concession can be appealed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court.

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