More than 250 university law professors have signed a statement “in defense of the Constitution and the Rule of Law” in which they maintain that the amnesty agreed by the PSOE with the Catalan independence parties “is contrary to the Constitution and the Law of the European Union and, therefore, void and inapplicable”. This is a spontaneous declaration, the signatories explain, which is not sponsored by any party or association.
The main reason for opposition is that such a law “breaks the rule of law, by subjecting judges to parliamentary majorities,” and is “contrary to the principle of separation of powers, essential in democracy.”
The signatory professors describe as a “covert coup d’état” the fact that the pact contemplates “the prosecution of the exercise of judicial power by the Congress of Deputies,” in reference to the agreement for investigative commissions to review what investigations they consider to be actually a political persecution.
The true intention of the amnesty, and its exorbitant scope, reinforces the thesis of its unconstitutionality: “An amnesty can never be constitutional or in accordance with European Union Law when it is enacted so that the amnestied person and his friends and acquaintances – including a suspect of money laundering from drug trafficking – avoid the application of justice, in exchange for lending their votes – seven silver coins with the face of a fugitive – to the investiture of a candidate.
The paragraph refers to the seven Junts votes in Congress necessary for Pedro Sánchez to repeat as president of the government, as well as to the investigation into money laundering from the drug trafficker Sito Miñanco for which Gonzalo Boye, Carles Puigdemont’s lawyer, is accused.
The statement includes references to EU law, which in his opinion clashes with Pedro Sánchez’s plans. “Neither terrorism, nor embezzlement, nor money laundering are amnestiable, in accordance with European Union regulations,” they maintain.
And they consider that judges with ongoing cases related to the process should not apply the rule when it comes into force. “Spanish judges, being judges of the Union, must consider rules that are contrary to European Union law null and inapplicable,” states the statement, which by yesterday afternoon had gathered 262 signatures.
