The Tribunal Constitucional will hear two amparo appeals in plenary on Tuesday 6 October concerning application of the amnesty law to the Catalan independence process. According to consistent reports from the courts and media, the panel has before it a draft by President Cándido Conde-Pumpido setting out a unified position on the scope of the amnesty. The central question is whether the offence of embezzlement of public funds (malversación) is covered by the amnesty.
Specifically, the judges will consider applications by Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa. Both were convicted or prosecuted in proceedings relating to the 2017 referendum and had challenged decisions by the Tribunal Supremo . Two rulings are expected from the plenary, which will serve as internal doctrine and guide the Supreme Court on how to apply the amnesty in pending cases.
On the current understanding, a broader interpretation of the amnesty could overturn the partly restrictive approach taken so far by the criminal chamber of the Tribunal Supremo. This would have immediate consequences for several people affected by the Procés and could lower the legal barriers to the return of former regional president Carles Puigdemont to Spain. Whether and when a return actually takes place will, however, depend on subsequent decisions by the competent courts and enforcement authorities.
The timing is politically sensitive. Junts has recently put the minority government of Pedro Sánchez under considerable pressure in the Congreso de los Diputados . A Constitutional Court ruling clarifying how the amnesty applies could directly affect the government’s room for manoeuvre and the dynamic between the government and Junts in parliament. Political circles are speculating about possible election dates; this is a political assessment, not a confirmed decision.
Background: The amnesty law was passed in 2024 to end proceedings related to the independence conflict. Several defendants, including Turull and Bassa, subsequently filed amparo appeals with the Tribunal Constitucional against decisions by the Tribunal Supremo. The Constitutional Court admitted the cases and scheduled them for the upcoming plenary session. The date for deliberation and a decision is confirmed; the exact content of the rulings, which have yet to be issued, remains unknown. Only once they are published and subsequently implemented by the Tribunal Supremo will it become clear how broadly the amnesty applies in individual cases.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).