The Junqueras immunity case: what you need to know

Thursday is an important day for the independence movement in Catalonia and the ongoing political conflict with Spain, as that is when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will rule on the parliamentary immunity of jailed Catalan leader, Oriol Junqueras.

Junqueras, the head of the pro-independence ERC party, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for sedition by Spain's Supreme Court in October for his role in the failed 2017 independence bid, when he was vice president of the Catalan government.

Yet the jailing of Junqueras, along with eight other former government officials and activists, is far from cut and dried, not least because, despite being in preventive detention at the time, the ERC leader won a seat in the European Parliament at the end of May.

After the election, the judiciary would not let Junqueras leave prison to complete the procedure for taking up his seat as an MEP, and the Spanish authorities declared his seat vacant, omitting him from the list of European representatives sent to Brussels.

ERC leader claims immunity as MEP-elect

That omission that has prevented him from attending the European chamber, argues Junqueras and his legal team, was an infringement of his rights, and the jailed leader insists that he should have parliamentary immunity as an MEP-elect.

It is an unprecedented scenario and a legal gray area, which is why the Spanish Supreme Court went on to ask the ECJ at the beginning of July to rule on the scope of the parliamentary immunity of the former Catalan vice president.

The high court's decision is now due, after its advocate general gave his opinion in November that Junqueras should have parliamentary immunity, with the argument that it is "only voters" who can decide who becomes an MEP.

Repercussions for Puigdemont and Comín

The ECJ's ruling will also have a bearing on the situation of exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and former health minister Toni Comín. Both also won seats in the European Parliament in May, and have been prevented from taking up their seats.

Puigdemont and Comín are fighting extradition from Belgium, where they went after the 2017 independence bid, and this week the Belgian court handling their case delayed their extradition hearingc until February 3, after the ECJ has ruled on Junqueras' immunity.

Yet, it is far from clear how a favorable ruling for Junqueras might affect the two exiled MEPs-elect, as Spain's Supreme Court insisted in November that they do not have parliamentary immunity despite the views of the ECJ's advocate general.

EU chamber under pressure

Whatever decision the ECJ comes to, the European Parliament speaker David Sassoli has pledged to "comply with the law," saying in November that he is willing to "review" his opinion on the status of the Catalan pro-independence MEPs-elect "if necessary."

Earlier in the month, Junqueras appealed to the EU's General Court against Sassoli's declaring himself "not competent" to defend his political immunity as an elected MEP in the speaker's response to an urgent petition to do so in the EU chamber.

Puigdemont and Comín have also put pressure on the European Parliament. In November, the two sent a joint letter to the chamber asking to be "provisionally" recognized as MEPs while the ECJ comes to a decision, arguing it is "of great relevance" for their case.

Potential outcome of court's ruling Junqueras' main lawyer, Andreu Van den Eynde, believes that the EU judges' ruling might be "incompatible" with the sentence the politician was given in mid-October, and it could also force the Spanish judiciary to annul the conviction.

All of this has given ever greater significance to the ECJ's imminent ruling, although no one knows how the Spanish authorities might react should the European high court decide that Junqueras has immunity and should be allowed to attend the chamber.

MEPs recently consulted by the Catalan News Agency were split on the matter. Deputy speaker of the EU parliament and Green Party member, Heidi Hautala, warned of member states trying to "condition and restrict" an elected member's mandate.

Socialist MEP and head of the EU's Committee on Civil Liberties, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, pointed out that while the advocate general's advice is not binding, "the Court of Justice has the final say," and that as a member state Spain is "bound by European law."

Yet, MEP for the unionist PP party, Dolors Montserrat, insisted that the state authorities have the final say on who represents them in the EU chamber, and that Puigdemont and Comín "have to make to make their cases to the Spanish judiciary" to be accepted as MEPs.