Spain’s Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) has rejected a medida cautelarísima requested by three senators from the Partido Popular (PP) on behalf of the parliamentary group. The emergency order sought to compel the immediate summons of several ministers to the Senate in August over recent events in Ceuta . The Sala de Vacaciones gave as its reason for the decision issued on Saturday that no “exceptional urgency” had been demonstrated to justify ruling without hearing the other side (inaudita parte).
The court states verbatim that, in view of the arguments presented, the requested measure does not appear appropriate because the particular urgency required by law has not been established. In particular, it was not sufficiently explained why the parliamentary scrutiny sought by the applicants had to take place during the extraordinary August session – of which only one week remains. The chamber therefore rejects the central criterion that could justify an order without hearing the other side.
The application was prompted by repeated absences of individual members of the government from Senate invitations, linked to the increase in border crossings into Ceuta at the end of July. These included the interior, defence and foreign affairs portfolios. In parallel, the government had requested appearances by several ministers in the Congress of Deputies Congreso de los Diputados and argued that the substantive debate would be conducted there in a consolidated form.
The decision concerns only the application for the most urgent form of interim relief. The Tribunal Supremo has not ruled on the pending substantive appeal, through which the PP is seeking a ruling that ministers must appear before the Senate promptly. The applicants had based their case on their “ius in officium” as senators under Article 23.2 of the Constitution . In the court’s view, this right is not irreparably impaired if scrutiny takes place outside the August sessions.
Politically, the decision is a setback for the Partido Popular’s strategy of confronting the government in the Senate in August. Legally, it confirms the high threshold for immediate orders issued without hearing the other side. The further proceedings remain unaffected.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).