The Venice Commission, the advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional matters, will approve today, Friday, its opinion on the Amnesty law after three months of study in response to a request from the Senate, controlled by the PP, and after knowing a first draft two weeks ago that had different readings by the Government and its partners and the opposition.
The Venice Commission’s response will focus on two specific aspects. On the one hand, it will refer in general terms to the requirements that amnesty laws must have to comply with international standards and the rule of law. On the other hand, it will answer the six specific questions that the Senate transferred to the organization. In them, the Upper House wanted to clear up doubts about whether the elimination of criminal responsibilities – for acts committed against territorial integrity or for crimes of terrorism – were compatible with the rule of law and the criteria of the Commission. At the same time, the Senate asked if the measures established in the Amnesty law condition Spanish judges – and, therefore, comply with the rule of law – and if the separation of powers is endangered.
According to sources from the Council of Europe, the final text of the opinion of the Venice Commission will not be published until Monday, March 18 for “technical” reasons, but today a first summary will be provided and members of the organization are expected to appear. before the media.
The members of the plenary session in which the final report will be adopted will listen, before its pronouncement, to the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán (PP), and the second secretary of Congress, Isaura Leal (PSOE).
The first vice president of the Lower House, Javier Maroto, and the socialist senator, Ángeles Luna, will also travel to Venice, as well as the socialist senator Antonio Gutiérrez Limones, as a representative of the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Council of Europe (APCE).
The decision of this body comes just 24 hours after the Congress of Deputies yesterday approved the law, which must now continue its processing in the Senate, where it is expected to remain two months before being returned to Congress for final validation.
Regarding the Commission’s draft that was known two weeks ago, the Government and the PSOE highlighted that it endorsed an “impeccable and positive” norm and that “it complies with international standards”, while the PP considered that the commission questioned several points such as the processing of the law through a bill, while advocating for constitutional reform.