“We said it and now also the Venice Commission: amnesty is a tool for reconciliation, and what’s more, it complies with international standards”, celebrated yesterday the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, the socialist Félix Bolaños, after the consultative body of the Council of Europe, in constitutional matters, endorsed in its opinion the proposed Amnesty law for those accused of the independence process in Catalonia.
“She is impeccable and positive”, reiterated Bolaños. “Let’s keep moving forward”, predicted the minister, in the face of ongoing negotiations with Junts per Catalunya to unblock the processing of the law in Congress, despite the last torpedo of the Tribunal to open a criminal case for an alleged crime of terrorism against Carles Puigdemont.
The Popular Party’s reading of the Venice Commission’s report, however, was diametrically opposed: “It does not support the Amnesty law”, popular sources said.
In a 26-page draft dated yesterday in Strasbourg, and advanced by La Vanguardia, the Venice Commission states that “social and political reconciliation are legitimate objectives for amnesties”. An objective expressly cited not only in the statement of reasons for the Spanish law, but even in the title, since it is called a law for institutional, political and social normalization in Catalonia. For the Socialists, the opinion “completely endorses the existence of the Amnesty law” proposed in Spain, and recognizes the existence of amnesty laws in different European countries, after having collected information in 54 states.
The body of the Council of Europe explains, according to the socialists, that “in no case does the amnesty affect the separation of powers, since the rule leaves in the hands of the judges the amnesty of specific acts in accordance with the law”. According to the PP, on the other hand, the report “does not enter into the division of powers, as it is a matter of the constitutionality of a country”.
The Venice Commission also establishes a series of criteria to ensure the legality of the amnesty and, according to the socialists, resolves that the Spanish proposal complies with all of them: respect for international law, legal certainty to clearly define amnesty acts and exceptions or a procedure that allows debate and participation.
However, according to the PP, the report highlights that the rule “is indeterminate in terms of object and time, and for this reason it is contrary to the principles of legal security and criminal legality”.
With regard to the recommendations formulated by the Venice Commission, according to the opinion of the socialists they have all already been fulfilled in the parliamentary processing of the rule: the exclusion of terrorist crimes from the amnesty is no longer made dependent on the existence of a firm sentence, as it appeared in the original wording, the connection between the amnesty and the pro-independence process has been strengthened, the socialist group has already declared that the judges will not appear before the commissions of inquiry open to Congress and, in addition, both in the plenum of the Lower House and in its Justice Committee, a wide debate has been allowed to all the parliamentary groups to determine their position regarding the fact.
The Venice Commission, however, questions the urgent processing of the rule, since it states that “it has caused a deep and virulent division in the political class, in the institutions, in the judiciary, in the academic world and in society of Spain”.
For this reason, the organization encourages the Spanish authorities to “take the necessary time to establish a meaningful dialogue in a spirit of loyalty and cooperation between state institutions, as well as between the majority and the opposition, in order to achieve social and political reconciliation, and consider exploring restorative justice procedures”.
The PP, in turn, assures that the Venice Commission considers a constitutional reform necessary, and questions that the amnesty is processed as a law proposal, without reports and without social participation.
The Venice Commission took into consideration the analysis of the Amnesty law proposal after receiving, in December, the urgent demand of the President of the Senate, Pedro Rollán. A delegation of the organization visited Spain in February to meet with the governments of Spain and Catalonia, parliamentary groups and judicial associations, among others, to gather information about the controversial initiative that allowed the new investiture of Pedro Sanchez
Some socialist sources point out that the PP intended to use the Venice Commission against the central government, and they say that, after the report that was published yesterday, “it came out scalded”. “The future amnesty is legal, it is legitimate and fully respectful of international standards”, they insist.
And, above all, it fulfills a “beneficial objective”, according to the interpretation of the Venice Commission’s report: “To turn a page from a complex stage and promote reunion and reconciliation” in Catalonia.
