Manuel Marraco

Juanma Lamet Madrid

Madrid

Updated Friday, March 15, 2024-14:44

  • Politics Congress approves Puigdemont's amnesty in a second attempt and the independence movement now threatens: "We will not stop until self-determination"

  • Amnesty Next steps: When will it be final?

    How does it affect Puigdemont?

The Venice Commission has tightened the final text of its report on the Amnesty Law.

This body of the Council of Europe debated the initial draft in plenary this Friday and accepted the introduction of several amendments.

The result is that the final report calls for "limiting" the scope of the amnesty, both the events it covers and the period affected, recently extended without the Government having given justification for it.

In its conclusions, it also asks that "a very qualified majority" be sought to approve the law, not just the absolute majority - scratched - that it currently has.

He does so after highlighting the "divisive effects" that the passing of the law has had.

Another of the modifications included in the report approved unanimously is that it is the judges who decide whether or not the precautionary measures are lifted, as a guarantee of the separation of powers.

This means that it would not be an automatic decision, as the text being processed intends, but rather that the courts could keep active measures such as the arrest warrant that currently weighs on former president Carles Puigdemont.

The modifications incorporated into the final text include a notice regarding the investigative commissions activated at the request of the pro-independence groups.

The Venice Commission says that it is not enough that judges are not obliged to appear, but that they should not even be "invited" to participate in them.

The final wording insists that the measure of grace should not seek the benefit of specific people.

The recommendation, without mentioning it, is aimed at reforms to the text aimed at ensuring that it will include Puigdemont.

Regarding the crimes of terrorism - which the Supreme Court has recently agreed to charge the former president with -, the Commission points out that the law will only fit into international texts if it ensures that it does not benefit serious human rights violations.

Reactions to the approval of the final report have been opposite.

The PSOE and the Government maintain that they "endorse" the rule, while the PP affirms that it represents "a hard blow" for the Government.