Defensor del Pueblo’s recent constitutional petition likely to be dismissed

According to the commentary, the Defensor del Pueblo filed an amparo claim challenging a Supreme Court order that barred certain naturalised Spaniards from voting, citing a provision of Ley 20/2022. While the Constitution (art. 162.1.a) and the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court (art. 46) grant the defender standing, the law also demands that the petitioner be directly affected, that all prior administrative or judicial challenges be pursued, and that the claim be lodged within thirty days of exhausting those avenues.

The defender neither participated in the original proceeding nor filed the required reposición appeal within the five-day window, nor did it observe the statutory deadline. Consequently, the analysis predicts the Constitutional Court will dismiss the petition under article 50 of the LOTC. The author suggests that only by first entering the case and following the prescribed remedies could the defender’s amparo be admissible.