MADRID.– The law of Amnesty that the coalition Government of Pedro Sánchez is processing in the Chamber of Deputies of Spain, at the request of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) did not pass the constitutionality test of the lawyers of the Justice Commission in the Congressaccording to the report issued, in which they detail crucial observations, which is why it sees indeterminacy in the scope of application.
Among the considerations, they highlight that the Amnesty Law harms the legal security established in the Constitution and invades areas of justice by including in grace crimes such as embezzlement that contradicts the legal framework of the European Union on fraud, as reported. EuropaPress.
Given this, they point out that the fundamental consideration will depend on the Constitutional Court, which must rule “on the law approved by the Cortes Generales”, an initiative agreed upon by the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, with pro-independence political organizations, such as Junts and ERC to achieve his investiture.
The report of the lawyers of the Justice Commission, who worked with presidents of the PP, is the second that is produced in the process of reviewing the constitutionality of the Amnesty. The first corresponded to the team of the general secretary of Congress and senior lawyer of the Cortes, Fernando Galindo, who highlighted doubts of constitutionality but not so “obvious” as to veto its processing.
Doubts about the Law in Congress
On this occasion, the lawyers in their report consider that “the initiative contained in this proposal raises doubts that it can have a place in the Constitution, so that it should be articulated through the constitutional reform procedure,” the agency quotes
They also point out that the initiative is not established among the powers of the Cortes Generales, which could invade the “jurisdictional power attributed by article 117.3 of the Constitution in restrictive terms exclusively to the courts and tribunals.”
Furthermore, Magna Carta “expressly disallows” general pardons.
The Amnesty law initiative promoted by Sánchez and the PSOE has been repeatedly rejected as unconstitutional, not only by the Popular Party and VOX, but also by leaders of the socialist party, such as Felipe González, and the majority of Spaniards who participated in massive demonstrations of rejection in 2023 because they consider it an unfortunate agreement with Catalan independence groups, whose votes in Congress Sánchez needs to govern.
Amnesty for embezzlement
Another observation is that the law includes the crime of embezzlement among the beneficiaries of the amnesty, and that “could compromise the harmonization and effectiveness” of the European regulations against fraud, the lawyers highlight, who however see It is good that terrorism is excluded, “because including them would be to contradict European directives.”
At this point, the ERC and Junts amendments propose that the amnesty be applied to unsentenced terrorism crimes, but the PSOE has so far not accepted that claim.
The report also warns of the consequences that the plan to revoke the European arrest warrants could have for the legislation of the European Union and questions the lifting of the precautionary measures adopted regarding amnestied actions or omissions because they have doubts that the proposal of the PSOE is regulating a matter contained in the TC Law without reforming it, the agency indicates.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, assured this Wednesday that he has clarified that they will continue working to improve the law “on that basis and with those principles,” it was reported.
Source: With information from EuropaPress, Diario Las Américas Editorial Team
