The Spanish Constitutional Court maintains the suspension of the Catalan Declaration of Sovereignty

Barcelona (ACN).- On Thursday Spain’s Constitutional Court rejected the allegations presented by the Catalan Parliament against the decision made in May to temporarily suspend the Declaration of Sovereignty. In addition, the Court decided to maintain the suspension until it reaches a definitive decision on the issue, a process which might take years. The Declaration of Sovereignty was approved on the 23rd of January by two thirds of the Catalan Parliament and it stated that the people of Catalonia are sovereign to decide on their collective future. The Spanish Government took the Declaration to the Constitutional Court, which accepted the appeal and automatically suspended the text for a five month-period. This temporary suspension could be extended for another five-month period or ratified until the Court reaches a decision. The Court decided today to ratify the temporary suspension, which leaves the Declaration without any legal effect. However, the majority of Catalan politicians have been arguing that the Declaration is a political statement and it does not have direct legal effects.

Catalonia’s self-determination process goes on

Today, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, stated from Brazil – where he is on an economic promotion trip – that he was counting on the Court’s decision to reject the allegations and maintain the suspension. However, Mas emphasised that Catalonia’s self-determination process will keep moving forward and he underlined the fact that the Court has not reached a definitive decision yet. The majority of Catalan parties accused the Constitutional Court of acting as “a politicised chamber”. However, they also stated that Catalonia’s self-determination process will continue. The President of the Catalan Parliament, Núria de Gispert, thought that the Court’s decision had “a clear political content”. Meanwhile, Spanish nationalist parties – which represent 20% of the Catalan Parliament – celebrated the decision, stating that the Court was “defending democracy” and “the rule of law”. The Spanish Constitutional Court was partially renovated a few weeks ago with candidates proposed by the People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government. With the partial renovation, the majority of the Constitutional Court magistrates are now Conservative and close to a Spanish nationalist stance.

The suspension is kept as the Declaration “deals with an issue that has great constitutional significance”

The members of the Constitutional Court unanimously agreed on Thursday to keep the temporary suspension of the Catalan Declaration of Sovereignty. According to the magistrates, they have rejected the allegations of the Catalan Parliament and maintained the suspension since the Declaration “deals with an issue that has great constitutional significance”. The Constitutional Court argued that “this fact is enough” to decide “in favour of the ratification” of the temporary suspension “during the indispensable time for the resolution of the appeal presented”. With this decision, the Declaration is no longer suspended for a five-month period but it has an indefinite suspension that will last until the Court reaches a definitive decision on the Spanish Government’s appeal. This process might take several years.

The Catalan Parliament’s allegation stated that the Declaration was a political text

The Spanish Government’s appeal was presented in early March and the Court suspended the Declaration in early May. The Court has not waited until the end of the five-month period (early October) as it has already reached a decision regarding the Catalan Parliament’s allegation against the temporary suspension. The Catalan Chamber’s main argument was that the Declaration “expresses a political will without legal effects”. In addition it added that it was “a manifestation of the freedom of expression and of the exercise of political pluralism”, which considers that the people of Catalonia have the right to vote on their potential independence from Spain.

The reactions of the political parties

To sum up, parties supporting Catalonia’s self-determination right protested against the Constitutional Court’s decision and Spanish nationalist parties celebrated it. The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Government – stated that “the will of a people cannot be suspended or annulled” since the people “are stubbornly committed to voting on the country’s political future”. CiU stated that they are “fully committed” to Catalonia’s self-determination right and they “will assume all the consequences” this attitude might bring them. In addition, the CiU added that in Spain “there are three political chambers: the Parliament, the Senate and the Constitutional Court”.

The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) emphasised that “once again the Constitutional Court is following political criteria in its decisions” They added that “the trust in the Constitutional Court’s independence and its legal rigour is extremely low”. The ERC hoped that the Court will “exclusively use legal criteria” when reaching a definitive decision. The ERC also emphasised that the organisation of a self-determination vote in Catalonia does not dependent on a Declaration of Sovereignty but on the democratically-expressed will of the majority of Catalan citizens.

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) – which is part of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) – stated that they respect the Court’s decision. However they doubted whether it is a good strategy to take “a political issue” to court. The PSC insisted that the Spanish Government should talk to the Catalan Executive and abandon going through the courts.

The Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) considered the Constitutional Court’s decision to be “unjustified, unusual and dreadful”. In addition they accused the Court of having an inquisitorial attitude and not fostering the path of “dialogue with Catalonia”. The ICV-EUiA insisted that the majority in the Catalan Parliament should prevail, as “no court can go against the freedom of expression”.

In addition the radical left-wing and independence party CUP regretted the fact that “the opinion of 12 judges is above the will of the people”. The CUP emphasised that “neither the Constitutional Court nor other court will break the will of Catalonia’s people”.

The People’s Party (PP) insisted that the Constitutional Court’s decision “is a legal one, and not a political one”. The PP stated that the Court “is defending the democratic state and the rule of law”. According to the PP “it is extremely important” that the Court might consider the Declaration to be against the Constitution.

Finally, the anti-Catalan nationalism and populist party Ciutadans (C’s) said that today’s decision is “important because it shows which is going to be [the Court’s] final decision”. The C’s stated that the Declaration “is an attack against Spanish democracy and against the Constitutional order”.