The Central Government and the PSOE warn that they do not bury, and do not even see in the dead end, the proposal that Pedro Sánchez put on the table to tackle a reform of the Criminal Procedure Law (LECrim) that shortens the terms of the judicial investigation and prevent some criminal processes from becoming eternal.
Discarded a reform of the Penal Code to delimit the crimes of terrorism, which was also foreseen during this process, Sánchez trusted that a review of the LECrim to adjust the times of judicial investigations could also serve to “resolve doubts” and attract Junts for Catalonia in the agreement to unblock the parliamentary processing of the Amnesty law.
But in the face of the doubts generated in the heart of the Spanish Executive itself by this reform of the LECrim, of which even without knowing its content the second vice-president and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, in Moncloa and Ferraz assumed that, without renouncing to raise this legislative initiative, should not be linked with “the solution” to unblock the amnesty. The central government, therefore, does not rule out revising the LECrim, but they recognize that in any case it will not be the key that can unblock the amnesty for those accused of the process.
This was acknowledged yesterday by the Minister of Transport and member of the PSOE leadership, Óscar Puente. “The Spanish procedure in the criminal field is excessively long, justice when it arrives late is no longer justice, and there are instructions that drag on for many years”, admitted the minister, on Antena 3, to defend the reform of the LECrim. “But linking it exclusively to the Amnesty law, from a strictly legal point of view, may not be the most convenient”, he pointed out.
So Sánchez opened the door to review LECrim, in the socialist sector of the Spanish Government they expressed doubts about assuming the difficulty of “balancing” the terms of the instructions in criminal proceedings, so that judges and prosecutors have enough time to to address complex investigations but, at the same time, that the cases do not drag on forever and cause defenselessness to the accused.
The Central Executive, in addition, did not find any starting allies to undertake the legislative reform, and least of all linked to an unblocking of the Amnesty law which continues to bring the positions between the PSOE and the formation of Carles Puigdemont closer together.
So what is the solution to unblock the amnesty? “They are looking for formulas”, Puente indicated yesterday. “What we are talking about is finding a fit so that, in a tremendously complicated and complex situation, we can carry forward the spirit of the proposal with which we began this mandate, which is to turn the page, conclude the issue, reverse it, remove – it from the legal sphere and transfer it to the strictly political sphere”, said the minister, with reference to the desire to advance in the resolution of the political conflict in Catalonia.
Puente reiterated, in any case, that the determination of the Spanish Government and the PSOE is not to introduce further changes of importance in the Amnesty law proposal, which returned to the Justice Committee of Congress after it failed to pass the full, given the rejection of Junts in the vote on Tuesday of last week. “The Amnesty law has some constitutional filters to pass and the changes that are made must respect this premise. We have reached as far as we could reach in the Amnesty law”, he stressed.
Despite the uncertainty of the situation, and the lack of agreement between the PSOE and Junts, Puente, however, agreed with Sánchez in the conviction that the amnesty will eventually see the light of day. “We are convinced that it will finally go ahead”, he assured. “It’s common sense. At this moment, it would make no sense, after the path we have taken, to frustrate the expectations of Catalan society as a whole and many people affected by legal proceedings linked to the process who are hoping that it will go ahead and that Catalonia can be reinstated the situation in strictly political terms”, he confided.
The leadership of the PSOE confirms that they are exploring new ways to try to derail the Amnesty law. And although they assure that the channels of communication with Junts remain open, they recognize that the pace of the negotiation has slowed down and is, for now, in a plateau phase. After Puigdemont’s formation voted against the wording of the Amnesty law in the plenary session of Congress, the two sides granted themselves some time to assess the situation and reconsider their positions. “There’s time, there’s still a lot left”, claim the socialists, shrugging off the pressure.
After the vote against JxCat, the rule returned to the Justice Committee of Congress, which has until February 21 to issue a new opinion that can be brought back to the plenary for a vote. But if an agreement is not reached by that date, there is the option of requesting an extension for fifteen more days than the regulations allow, so that the margin for the pact does not expire until March 6. “There is time”, they insist.
