With the publication of the Amnesty Law, which was approved by 177 votes to 172 in Congress, hateful legislation has been produced that will surely be the subject of discussion for years in the political, legal and social spheres of Spain.
The misrepresentation of Amnesty
The amnesty is of a general nature, since it is not applied to a particular person or persons, but in favor of all the individuals who committed the amnestied crime, and it is a legal figure that has been used only in situations of serious conflicts that occurred in a country, in periods of war, and in transitions from a dictatorship to democracy, with the purpose of advancing reconciliation and restoring social peace, that has been its goal and purpose, except now, which is trying to be imposed to maintain control of the executive branch.
When amnesty is applied, it promotes oblivion capable of extinguishing the criminal responsibility of people who have been declared guilty by the justice system, becoming considered innocent, making the crime disappear, annulling the entire criminal record.
All countries have the duty to promote and apply mechanisms to consolidate peace and reconciliation of the people, but the validity of the programs or actions requires that they not be separated from justice, truth and comprehensive reparation to victims for serious violations of human rights and other serious crimes that have been committed against the population and against society.
The sanction of an amnesty law does not prevent the investigation and punishment of people responsible for serious violations of human rights, and therefore, if a person requests that an amnesty law be applied, judges are obliged to verify whether the facts that surround a criminal type generate or have generated serious violations of human rights or if they can fall into criminal crimes against humanity, under penalty of not admitting the amnesty law to the subject.
International Human Rights Law establishes that amnesty provisions, prescription provisions and the establishment of exclusions of liability that seek to prevent the investigation and punishment of those responsible for serious violations of human rights, such as torture, are inadmissible. , summary, extralegal or arbitrary executions and forced disappearances, among others.
Now, it will have to be verified whether the crimes of embezzlement and disobedience that fall into the category of intentional crimes against the public Administration, and punished with a prison sentence and special disqualification for public employment and the exercise of the right to passive suffrage, constitute impediments to the application of the amnesty sanctioned in Spain, and it is necessary to emphasize in this analysis that it is a duty of the States to investigate, prosecute and punish any violation of human rights committed in a context of widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population.
Some complexities of the Amnesty law
In this legislation, amnesty will be given to acts determining criminal, administrative or accounting liability, executed within the framework of the consultations held in Catalonia on November 9, 2014 and October 1, 2017, their preparation or their consequences, provided that they were carried out between November 1, 2011 and November 13, 2023, which is why the liability of these people in the criminal, administrative and accounting spheres would be extinguished. (Articles 1 and 3).
According to statistics from the same government, it is estimated that 300 or more people who were involved in the independence process of Catalonia, in addition to 73 police officers, can benefit from this political benefit.
Some acts are excluded from the application of the Amnesty described in article 2 of the same law, motivating judges to have to look especially at everything that is inherent to violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, just like the crimes of treason against the State, peace and independence of the Nation.
Appeals against the Amnesty Law
The amnesty law can be appealed via unconstitutionality appeal before the Constitutional Court Or any judge who considers that the norm does not comply with the Magna Carta can uphold the question of unconstitutionality. There is also a second way, such as the preliminary ruling question before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)and a judge may raise it if he has doubts about its application to a specific procedure when considering that at some point it may contradict community law, such as crimes of malpractice y terrorism, matters regulated by European law.
Another challenge for the justice system
Although he has consummated a political ploy to stay in power with the amnesty offer now made law, the Spanish justice system is being put to the test, as it will have to turn its gaze to human rights and serious criminal offenses for the facts and consequences that surround each subject who feels that they are benefited by the amnesty law.
It is worth highlighting the precedents in the Court of Justice of the European Union that declared legal the revocation of an amnesty decreed by the new government of Slovakia in 2017, which suggests that amnesties can be reviewed or annulled. Even the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union supports the primacy of Union law over national laws that contradict it, even if countries’ constitutional courts have upheld them.
Returning to the Spanish case, the Court of Auditors has taken a step to present a preliminary ruling before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which seeks to clarify whether the amnesty is applicable to the procedure followed by the supervisory body for the diversion of funds. of the Catalan independence process.
Without a doubt, the amnesty law could have several effects on the legal system in Spain, such as precedent and jurisprudence for future cases, where courts could consider it when evaluating other crimes or similar situations; confidence in the justice system, which by forgiving those involved in the Catalan independence process questions the equity and the justice; and international relations, since theApplication of the law could affect relations with other countries and international organizations, considering the evaluation of its compatibility with community law.
The amnesty law has legal, social and political implications, and its impact will depend on how it is handled in the legal system and how it is perceived in society.
Fear: Miguel Angel Martin Tortabu
@miguelmartint_
