Strasbourg rejects suit challenging Spain's suspension of Catalan parliament session in October 2017

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Spanish Constitutional Court's suspension of the Catalan parliament plenary session after the 2017 independence referendum did not violate human rights and has declared the case "inadmissible."

The lawsuit brought by 76 plaintiffs, including the former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell and former president Carles Puigdemont, alleged that the suspension of the session on October 9 violated rights of expression, assembly and representation.

However, the high court in Strasbourg rejected the accusations, calling the suspension "necessary in a democratic society and in particular for the maintenance of public safety, the defense of order, and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

Parliament was to have met on October 9 so that Puigdemont could provide an evaluation of the October 1 referendum results. However, the Strasbourg high court considers that his public appearance the next day makes the suit "manifestly unfounded."

Spain's Constitutional Court suspended the session on October 5, after the Catalan Socialist party appealed to the court on the grounds that the referendum had been declared illegal, and warning that the session would be used for "a formal declaration of independence."