EU court upholds Spanish amnesty law as compatible with EU law

A Spanish ⁠law granting amnesty to those involved in Catalonia’s separatist drive does not violate European Union ⁠law, the EU’s top court says, in a boost to the Spanish government and its Catalan ⁠allies.

The Court of ⁠Justice ruled on Thursday that EU law does not ⁠preclude the Spanish amnesty law because its adoption and application fall within the competence of member states.

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The court “does not oppose a ⁠law which, in order to reduce institutional and political tensions and facilitate ⁠a process of reconciliation, provides for the ⁠extinction of criminal liability”, one of the judges said when delivering the ruling.

The court also ruled that a procedural deadline requiring a decision on amnesty within two months is in principle lawful. However, the judges stressed that rulings by the Court of ⁠Justice in preliminary reference proceedings must be awaited before such decisions are made.

In 2024, the Spanish lower house approved a law to annul the criminal records of hundreds of officials and activists involved in crimes related to the Catalonian secessionist push from 2011. The EU court’s judgement could pave the way for a return of the movement’s exiled leader, Carles Puigdemont.

The act drew a line under Spain’s worst political crisis in decades, which saw Catalan pro-independence leaders, who had won the 2015 regional elections in Catalonia, hold a referendum on independence in 2017 that passed after being declared illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party put forward the amnesty proposal in exchange for support in parliament from Catalan secessionist parties that enabled him to stay on as prime minister after inconclusive elections in 2023. The amnesty was opposed by conservatives.

Thursday’s judgement clarified the scope and limits of member states’ powers in adopting amnesty laws within the framework of EU rules.

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