The Supreme Court has given the go-ahead to the first pardons in the process, specifically those of the leaders of the pro-independence social movement Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart. The Administrative Litigation Chamber of the High Court had been waiting to solve them since 2021, when the measure of grace was granted by the central government. There are still 27 appeals pending, but court sources point out that these first resolutions mark the way for future ones.
The room has not gone into evaluating whether the Executive of Pedro Sánchez adequately argued the granting of pardons because it has remained in the form, which is the lack of active legitimacy. In other words, the appellants do not have the power to claim the review of the measure of grace.
Last year the Supreme Court already said that all appeals had to be rejected without being admitted to the procedure. However, in an unusual decision, the chamber decided to correct itself – after a change of magistrates – and decided to admit it to the procedure and then to assess both the legitimacy and the substance of the matter .
In that first resolution, the High Court relied on its own jurisprudence on the parties’ lack of active legitimacy to reject the appeals and not even go into the merits. He said then that it was “overwhelming” the jurisprudence that declares “that, in general, the active legitimacy of political parties is not presented, to contest any action of the various administrations”, as is the case of a pardon, which grants the Executive
Once that resolution was overturned, the magistrates met yesterday to re-study both the legitimacy and the substance of the matter. However, if the first was rejected – as it has been -, the room blocked the step to assess whether the Spanish Executive acted within the law when it granted pardons to nine leaders of the process, headed by ‘ former vice-president of the Generalitat Oriol Junqueras.
The court has only reviewed the resources raised by Vox and Ciutadans regarding the Jordis. There are still 27 other appeals pending, among which are those of the PP and the one presented in a personal capacity by the former delegate of the Spanish Government to Catalonia Enric Millo.
Then, when it was decided to appeal against the pardons, the leader of the PP, Pablo Casado, justified his party’s appeal because it was a “democratic attack” on “millions of Spaniards”. Inés Arrimadas, then leader of Ciutadans, spoke of “a violation of the rule of law”, and Santiago Abascal, of Vox, accused the Central Executive of “stabbing the Spanish and the King in the back” .
In the case of the two appeals presented by Vox, the room has unanimously rejected them. In the case of the ex-parliamentarians of Citizens, the decision was by majority. No magistrate has announced a private vote. The aim of this appeal was to assess whether the proposal of the Minister of Justice at the time, Juan Carlos Campo – currently a magistrate of the Constitutional Court –, later approved by the Council of Ministers, was adequately argued.
Although it is a measure of grace, if it is granted an explanation must be given as to why the prison sentence is removed from a convicted person. However, by rejecting the legitimation, the content of the pardons is no longer assessed.
