Five judges denounce Constitutional Court ruling on process amnesty as constitutional overreach

The Constitutional Court’s recent judgment obliges the Supreme Court to extend an amnesty to individuals barred from office for embezzlement linked to the Catalan independence process. The plenary vote, driven by the leftist bloc, passed the measure on Monday. However, five magistrates—Concepción Espejel, Enrique Arnaldo, José María Macías (who stepped down from the Jordi Turull-led report), César Tolosa and Ricardo Enríquez—issued a forceful dissent.

They contend the ruling constitutes a “more than worrying” usurpation of the Supreme Court’s functional role in interpreting ordinary law and exceeds the Constitutional Court’s jurisdiction. The dissent also criticizes the methodological approach used in the protection granted to former minister Dolors Bassa, which would aid Carles Puigdemont. According to the dissenters, the decision deepens a trend that distorts the constitutional architecture established by the Spanish justice system.