European setback for the Amnesty Law

The European Commission's ruling questioning the legality of the Amnesty Law granted by Pedro Sánchez to the leaders of the Catalan independence movement in exchange for their votes for his inauguration as Prime Minister represents a major setback. The legal arguments submitted by Brussels to the EU Court of Justice within the process it is conducting at the request of the Court of Auditors are not new, as they have been previously noted by most legal experts.

But the fact that they are supported by EU authorities, traditionally reluctant to take sides on internal issues within Member States, adds weight to the complaints of those who believe the law oversteps the constitutional boundaries. Particularly serious is the labeling of the law drafted by the Spanish government to suit the fugitive Carles Puigdemont as a "self-amnesty."

The government used a twist of argument to claim success in Brussels' ruling that the EU's financial interests had been harmed, which, in its view, renders the embezzlement convictions against those accused of the attempted separatist coup and Puigdemont's pending trial unfounded. Given the European objections, the full Constitutional Court, which has begun debating the ruling that would authorize the decree-erasure of the crimes committed by the separatist leaders, should be postponed until the European courts issue their rulings, in order to avoid an unprecedented clash of legitimacy if their rulings prove contradictory.