Law of transitional jurisprudence to be passed before October 1 vote

One of the most well-kept secrets of Catalonia's independence plans has now become public: the content of the provisional Catalan Constitution once the new state is declared. Written by the pro-independence parties, the Law of transitional jurisprudence and foundation of the Republic will be passed before the October 1 referendum. However, it will not come into force unless the Yes wins… and if the Catalan authorities have managed to hold the vote despite Spain’s opposition.

Details on the law

Some details of the legal text include that the Catalan state will allow its citizens to hold dual nationality with Spain. In addition, the Catalan language will be official in the new state along with Spanish. The Catalan president will become head of state and the law will be the “supreme” regulation until a new Constitution is approved, according to the law’s third article.

Pro-independence lawmaker Lluís Corominas said that the legal text’s official name will be ‘Law of transitional jurisprudence and foundation of the Republic’. It is meant to provide a legal framework for independence if Yes wins in the October 1 referendum. It will be passed in the Parliament before the referendum, but its promoters claim that it will come into force only if a majority votes in favor of secession in the referendum.

Spain, fiercely opposed to the vote

However it is not yet clear that citizens will be able to have their say through this vote. The Catalan government keeps on saying that the referendum will take place despite Madrid’s fierce opposition but the Spanish government says that the vote will be stopped on the grounds that it breaches the Spanish Constitution. Mariano Rajoy’s cabinet has not explained yet how they are planning to derail Catalan president Puigdemont’s plans.

At the same time, the pro-independence lawmakers have not said how and when they will pass the Referendum Law. They registered it in the Parliament on July 31 but it has not made any further progress in the Parliament so far. It is considered essential for giving the referendum a legal framework.  The next plenary session in the Catalan chamber is scheduled for September 6, while the last one before October 1 is set to start on September 20.

Unresolved questions ahead of the October 1 vote

The pro-independence parties’ intention is to pass the law before October 1. It was believed that the left-wing parties ERC and the CUP defended this option while liberal PDeCAT wanted to wait until after the referendum. In the end, they will pass it in September, just like the Referendum Law, but it has not yet been announced when exactly they will bring it to the plenary session. 

Other question marks in the path towards the referendum include what list of registered voters will be used. The purchase of ballot boxes has also been an issue in the past few months. The Catalan minister of Governance began a process of buying ballot boxes, but the Spanish prosecutor issued a suit over this movement. President Puigdemont said last week in an interview to Financial Times that his government already has more than 6,000 ballot boxes.