Spain's Supreme Court rejects Catalan Government's complaint against Rajoy for violating fundamental rights

Barcelona (ACN).- The Spanish Supreme Court has decided to reject the Catalan Government's complaint, filed on Tuesday, against the Spanish Government's appeal of the citizen participation process on independence, scheduled for the 9th of November. Therefore, the Constitutional Court's temporary suspension of such a non-binding consultation is still valid. The Catalan Government considered that the appeal filed by the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, went against Catalans' fundamental rights, such as the freedom of expression, the freedom of ideology and the right to political participation. However, the Supreme Court's Administrative Law Division decided on Thursday not to accept the Catalan Government's complaint and stated that it should have been filed to the Constitutional Court. The Catalan Executive filed the complaint to the Supreme Court as it considered it was the only way to lift the suspension on the citizen participation process before Sunday. An appeal to the Constitutional Court had  already been filed on Monday, the day before the suspension was announced, and allegations will be filed in the coming days, but they will not be debated before Sunday's vote. Therefore complaints to the Constitutional Court are 'de facto' useless in guarantying that Catalans will be able to vote on Sunday since the Court will deal with them after November 9.

The temporary suspension of the alternative participation process on November 9 that replaces the original consultation vote scheduled for the same day is still place, after Spain's Supreme Court closed the door to debate on the Spanish Government's appeal against such a process, as had been requested by the Catalan Executive. The Catalan complaint was asking the Supreme Court to declare the Spanish Government's appeal which was filed to the Constitutional Court on last Friday, as null and void. If Rajoy's appeal were cancelled by the Administrative Law Division of the Supreme Court, then the Constitutional Court's automatic and temporary suspension of Sunday's alternative vote would be also cancelled, as it is based on the Spanish Government's appeal.

However, the Administrative Law Division refused to debate the Spanish Government's appeal, "as the law" does not allow the Supreme Court to do so, they argued. According to the highest judicial body, the Constitutional Court is the institution that has to deal with all matters regarding the Spanish Government's appeal. Furthermore, since the Constitutional Court has already agreed to take Rajoy's appeal into consideration, it has issued the consequent automatic suspension of the object being appealed against and those decisions have already been published in Spain's Official Journal (BOE), the matter is in the Constitutional Court's hands. For this reason the Supreme Court highlights that it cannot rule on resolutions of the Constitutional Court. Therefore, the Catalan Government's complaint has not been taken into consideration by the Madrid-based Supreme Court, which has refused to debate whether the Spanish Government's appeal violates the basic political rights of Catalan citizens, such as the freedom of expression, the freedom of ideology and the right to political participation.