Spain's Constitutional Court is scheduled to vote on Tuesday 6 October on two reports concerning the application of the amnesty law to offences of misuse of public funds, according to reporting by Diari ARA. The outcome could affect the legal steps needed before former Generalitat president Carles Puigdemont could return to Catalonia without the arrest warrant issued in the Procés case.

For Puigdemont and Junts, the party he leads, the immediate consequence is that no return date has been announced. Junts sources told Diari ARA that the party will wait for final court decisions before making a decision.

Two reports due before the Constitutional Court

The reports will concern Jordi Turull, Junts' secretary general, and Dolors Bassa, a former Catalan minister. Both cases concern the Supreme Court's earlier refusal to apply the amnesty law to the misuse-of-public-funds element of their convictions.

  • José María Macías is due to present a revised report on Turull's case.
  • Cándido Conde-Pumpido, president of the Constitutional Court, is due to present a separate report on Bassa's case.
  • Diari ARA reported that the court may approve one report or both.

Turull challenged the Supreme Court's position on 16 November 2024. The court's decision on the reports could clarify whether the amnesty law applies to the relevant offences in the cases of senior figures involved in the 2017 independence process.

Supreme Court action would still be required

According to Diari ARA, a Constitutional Court ruling would be sent to the parties and the Supreme Court without waiting for publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, Spain's official state gazette.

“Such a ruling is sent immediately to the parties and the Supreme Court,” Constitutional Court sources told Diari ARA.

Puigdemont's warrant, in force since 3 November 2017, could be revoked by Supreme Court investigating judge Pablo Llarena, either on his own initiative or after a request from the parties, Diari ARA reported. A separate route would be for the Supreme Court's Procés trial chamber to close the case definitively after hearing from the parties.

Sources close to Llarena told the newspaper that he would need to read the full ruling before deciding, but intended to deal with it as quickly as possible. Diari ARA reported that publication of comparable Constitutional Court decisions in the state gazette has taken between 27 and 39 days.

Primary sources: Generalitat de Catalunya. Reported by en.ara.cat, Diari ARA.