The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has dismissed the amnesty requests of Josep Maria Jové and Lluís Salvadó, former secretaries of the Vice Presidency and Treasury of the Generalitat, respectively. Additionally, it has decided to maintain the preliminary questions raised before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
In its ruling, the TSJC indicates that it elevates a preliminary question to the CJEU for it to pronounce on the application of the amnesty law in relation to the offense of embezzlement of public funds affecting both politicians. In July, the CJEU had issued rulings in response to preliminary questions regarding the accounting responsibility of Carles Puigdemont and others in the use of public funds during the ‘procés’, as well as the investigation of terrorism offenses against the Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR).
The CJEU determined that EU law does not prevent an amnesty law from exempting responsibilities for actions carried out in a political context, as long as these do not involve EU funds. However, the TSJC argues that the nature of the previous proceedings is completely different from the case of Salvadó and Jové, leading to the conclusion that the CJEU’s rulings do not resolve all the doubts that the Catalan court has raised.
Therefore, the TSJC has decided to maintain the preliminary questions in the same terms, reaffirming the importance of the specific assessment required for this particular case.
Source: www.infobae.com
