Strawberry Fields Forever
Reading the brilliant blog post of my colleague Teresa Navarro, one may get the impression that the situation in Doñana is principally the epitome of an ongoing electoral process. However, the threats to the ecological integrity of that unique natural space emanate from the very origins that justified its protection. The current crisis is but the culmination of the constant and serious threats, caused by the proposed bill to legalize new irrigation and aggravated by incompetence and lack of responsibility of the state, regional and local authorities ignoring the requirements of EU law.
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Of Red Fruits and Social Conflict
These days of electoral campaign in Spain, as usual, water is among the current issues. Recently, a controversial proposal by the conservative parties of the Andalusian Parliament aims to re-grant the status of agricultural land to certain land in the vicinity of the Doñana National Park (Huelva, Spain). Doñana suffers a long social conflict triggered by several decisions adopted to protect this singular place. As we will see, this is a clear example of the political use of the tension generated by environmental protection and socio-economic interests, especially in times of elections.
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Achmea Goes to Washington
Recently, a US District Court trashed a Dutch company's arbitral award against Spain. Why? Because investor-state arbitration within the EU violates European law. Yet, many tribunals keep issuing arbitral awards - especially under the infamous Energy Charta Treaty. Challenging those awards in domestic courts outside the EU, like here in Washington D.C., might work as corrective to the continuing illegal assumption of jurisdiction and blatant disregard for the EU Treaties by arbitral tribunals.
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Short Detention, Long Shadow
Several videos show the arrest of Clara Ponsatí last Tuesday in the streets of Barcelona, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Separatist politicians have forcefully condemned the arrest as an ‘attack on democracy’, ‘political violence’, ‘repression’ and ‘abuse of power’, while also asserting an egregious violation of an MEP’s immunity. This piece argues that the arrest warrant issued by the Tribunal Supremo on 28 March 2023 does not hold up against established constitutional principles.
Continue reading >>Towards European Rights of Nature
On 24 February, Marie-Christine Fuchs on this blog discussed the 2022 Spanish Mar Menor Act – the first rights of nature case in Europe – in light of Latin American precedents and the criticism the Act is facing from right-wing populists in Spain. Whether the Act remains the first law in Europe granting rights to a non-human natural entity will now be decided by the Spanish Constitutional Court. In her analysis of the socio-legal foundations of the Mar Menor Act, Fuchs argues that it had a “more fragile argumentative basis” than precedents in Latin America. In contrast, this article argues that the Spanish legislator succeeded in placing the Mar Menor Act on its own argumentative footing, thus opening the door for a genuinely Western liberal conception and implementation of rights of nature in Europe.
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Rights of Nature Reach Europe
On September 30, 2022, the Spanish Senate approved the "Mar Menor Act" (Law 19/2022) which granted legal personality to the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin. Being the first legal text in Europe to recognize a natural entity as a subject of rights, it is one more piece in the mosaic of a global movement towards ecological justice, which tries to find strong legal answers in times of global ecological crisis. In fact, the Spanish landmark decision follows the precedents of countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, India and the United States. In this context, it is worth asking whether the legal and socio-cultural bases of the concept of the rights of nature, as developed in the aforementioned cases, especially in those stemming from Latin America, are also sustainable in Europe and for the Mar Menor case.
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Separatisten vor dem EuGH
Mit dem Urteil vom 31.01.2023 hat der EuGH der bisherigen Geschichte zur Auslieferung der führenden Politiker:innen der katalanischen Autonomiebewegung nach Spanien ein weiteres Kapitel hinzugefügt. Gleichzeitig entwickelt der Gerichtshof seine Rechtsprechung zu den Ausnahmen des gegenseitigen Vertrauens bei Gefahren für ein faires Verfahren fort, die dem Betroffenen nach der Vollstreckung eines Europäischen Haftbefehls im Ausstellungsstaat drohen – mit noch offenen Folgen für den Auslieferung der katalanischen Politiker:innen.
Continue reading >>An Institutional Crisis that Dissolved Like a Sugar Cube
In mid-December, Spain faced a constitutional logjam when judges blocked a government bill to change how the judiciary’s governing council, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), operates. But when the situation seemed to be heading towards a serious institutional crisis, on 27 December, the CGPJ unanimously elected its two corresponding jurists. The crisis has dissolved without a trace, like a sugar cube in tea. But it has left a very bitter aftertaste.
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Judges as Guardians of Promises
On 16 November, the Minister for Equality accused the Spanish judiciary of being macho-ist: “macho-ism can compromise both the impartiality and the integrity of judicial systems; macho-ism may make judges apply the law erroneously and wrongly”, said the Minister. After much criticism, Podemos, in support of the Minister, rounded up her argument: “Spanish judges are fascists”. These comments are part of an intense battle that is being fought between the government (Psoe/Podemos) and the Spanish Popular Party regarding the renewal of the Spanish General Council for the Judiciary, the judges’ governing body.
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The Mar Menor Lagoon Enjoys Legal Standing: and now, what?
On 30th September, the Spanish Parliament has completed the ‘Mar Menor Act’, granting legal personality to the lagoon of the Mar Menor and its basin. It is the first legal text in Europe which gives rights and legal standing to a natural body. Notably, the process was initiated by a public campaign triggering the legislative procedure. As legal scholars, we fear that this move, although it constitutes a strong expression of ecological awareness, will not solve the lagoon’s serious environmental deterioration.
Continue reading >>Sharing the Cost of the Crisis
In late July, the two political parties supporting the Spanish Government (the socialist party and the leftist Podemos) presented a proposal for approving a law on the windfall profits of banks and large energy companies in Parliament. This is supposed to tax companies earning extra profits from the recent price increase in energy and the financial sector which was slightly affected by the increase in inflation but will have a considerable profit from the rise of interest rates. The bill could serve as an example for other European countries.
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The Paradox of Efficiency: Frictions Between Law and Algorithms
On the 13th of January 2022, a Spanish Administrative court ruled in favour of algorithmic opacity. Fundación Civio, an independent foundation that monitors and accounts public authorities, reported that an algorithm used by the government was committing errors. BOSCO, the name of the application which contained the algorithm, was implemented by the Spanish public administration to more efficiently identify citizens eligible for grants to pay electricity bills. Meanwhile, Civio designed a web app to inform citizens whether they would be entitled for this grant.
Continue reading >>Good Intentions May Not Be Enough
On 29 June 2021, the Spanish Cabinet approved to sponsor the Draft Bill for the Real and Effective Equality of Trans People and the Guarantee of the Rights of LGTBI People in Parliament. Even though the Bill’s main goal is to introduce game-changing and long-demanded reforms, such as the incorporation of the self-determination principle in legal gender amendment procedures or a state-level set of norms against LGTBIphobia, political struggles within the government have resulted in a weak text. And, most importantly, they are causing a major delay to its parliamentary discussion and approval.
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Legislative Activity and Inactivity in the COVID Pandemic in Spain
In Spain, hundreds of laws have been amended in reaction to the COVID pandemic. But Spain is still without a law determining when elections can be suspended, what is the deadline for extending the state of alarm, when a town can be closed perimetrically, and so on. Against logic and statistics, our public authorities have considered that the organic laws of 1981 and 1986 were sufficient for this purpose. However, they were clearly not designed for a pandemic unprecedented since 1918.
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The Right of Catalonian Leaders to Protest
On 22 April, the Spanish Constitutional Court issued its first judgement on the constitutionality of the conviction of the Catalonian leaders for the events of October 2017. It upheld the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the crime of sedition which blurs the line between legitimate protest and sedition. The judgment will therefore have repercussions beyond this particular case and may affect the right of protest and dissent.
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How Spanish Politics Turned into a Political TV Drama
Recently, a set of unexpected moves and countermoves in Spanish politics have resulted in the collapse of two regional governments and a snap election in Madrid. This election anticipates a fierce battle between the two blocs that have dominated Spanish politics since 2015, even more so after vice-president Iglesias’ decision to step down from government to run in Madrid. The outcome will have a significant impact on national politics, determining the fate of most actors and opening a new political cycle in Spain.
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Spain: One Pandemic and Two Versions of the State of Alarm
The Spanish response to the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic that have affected the territory has so far largely relied on emergency powers. The measures were adopted on the basis of the pre-existing legal framework provided in article 116 of the Constitution and its legislative development, Ley Orgánica 4/1981 on state of alarm, exception and siege, adopted on 1 June 1981 (henceforth LO 4/1981). As explained below, two different approaches have characterised the response to the first and second wave. However, both have their legal basis on the same norms and are based on the same legal category, i.e., the state of alarm ('estado de alarma').
Continue reading >>A Political Impasse, and How to Get Out of It
At the end of January, EU Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová addressed a letter to a Spanish MEP. In this letter, the Commissioner, using diplomatic language, expressed her concern that the reform of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), initiated by the ruling Spanish left-wing coalition PSOE-Unidas Podemos in September, could diminish the independence of this governing body of the Judiciary and thus of all judges and courts.
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The Honor of the Spanish Flag
In a controversial decision dated 15 December 2020 and published one month later, the Spanish Constitutional Court has rejected the appeal of a member of an independentist trade union condemned for desecrating the Spanish flag during a labor protest. The ruling denies constitutional protection to such expressions even in the context of political activism. It challenges the case law of the ECHR and reduces the room for freely expressing political opinions in Spain. The ruling shows that the freedom of expression is increasingly at risk in Spain.
Continue reading >>No, the Spanish Constitutional Court has not endorsed migrant push-backs in Ceuta and Melilla
The Spanish Constitutional Court has just published a long-awaited judgement on migrant push-backs or “devoluciones en caliente” at the Spanish enclaves bordering on Morocco. These push-backs are controversial, to say the least. While media rushed to cover the press release summary, and reports that the SCC seemed to have endorsed the practice were not wholly accurate, the actual judgement is flawed by internal contradictions. There is an irreconcilable gap between the theoretical respect for fundamental rights, and their effective protection.
Continue reading >>The Time to Speak Up
The European Commission’s Rule of Law Report 2020, in its Spanish chapter, highlights in particular the situation of the Judicial Council as a challenge: The mandate of its members has expired in December 2018, but its new members have not yet been appointed. To unblock this situation a proposal was introduced in Parliament, but the envisaged reform does not comply with EU standards and endangers judicial independence, as the European Commission and GRECO have warned.
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Justice and Independence, an Actual Problem in Spain
On October 13, the Spanish Government presented a bill to Parliament with one main objective: to reduce the parliamentary majorities to appoint the members of the General Council of the Judiciary. Its purpose is to overcome a political blockage in the renewal of its members, which has already lasted two years. But the government's attempt, somehow awkward, has been quickly compared to maneuvers to control the judiciary in Poland and Hungary. However, this bill and those exaggerated criticisms conceal a much more relevant and, above all, sadder reality.
Continue reading >>The Covid-19 Measures in Madrid, and why they Suffered Defeat in Court
The Covid-19 situation in Madrid, as in many other places all over the country, is getting worse. The number of people infected continue to rise just like the hospital occupancy rate. In a political context marked by permanent confrontation between the regional and national governments, ruled by different political parties, the Madrid Court of Justice has added fuel to the fire by quashing the ‘perimeter closure’ for Madrid. Other than one might think, this was not a decision about the substance of the Order but rather about its lack of legal authorization to impose a measure so restrictive of fundamental rights.
Continue reading >>Beyond the State of Alarm: COVID-19 in Spain
The confinements imposed by the Spanish Government in response to the pandemic are among the most intense in comparative terms since they contain a prohibition of going out into the street with only limited exceptions. Given their intensity, especially the strong limits imposed on the freedom of movement, the restrictions are rather suspensions than mere restrictions of fundamental rights and as such go beyond their legal basis of the state of alarm.
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A Painful Slap from the ECtHR and an Urgent Opportunity for Spain
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights shockingly endorses a practice which opposes the core principles of International Law and the protection of fundamental rights. This decision repeals a previous ECtHR judgement of 2017 which had condemned push-backs and which Spain had asked to be referred to the Grand Chamber. But all hope is not lost: The Spanish Constitutional Court will rule on the “rejections at the border” provision in the near future and has the chance to uphold Spain’s international legal obligations.
Continue reading >>Junqueras’ Immunity: An Example of Judicial Dialogue
There is no doubt that the criminal prosecution of the "Catalan question" is a stress test for Spanish Justice. One of the last episodes, now with a European dimension, has been the "euro-immunity" of Junqueras. And, in this respect, the political and journalistic readings of the judicial decisions issued by the Spanish Supreme Court and by the Court of Justice of the European Union emphasize the confrontation. However, in my modest opinion, I believe that these decisions are an example of dialogue between courts, necessary to manage the current pluralism where legal orders are intertwined without clear hierarchies.
Continue reading >>No Appeasement
On Russia, Poland, Spain, India, Germany, Italy and others.
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The Case of Mr. Junqueras is a Case of Respect of the Rule of Law
Mr. Junqueras was not an MEP nor had any immunity whatsoever when he was put on trial for a crime committed in Spain in accordance with Spanish law. When the trial was completely over, in June 2019, but before a sentence was given by the Court, Mr. Junqueras was elected to the European Parliament. And that was possible, precisely, because Spain being a most protective country, his presumption of innocence was still complete at that time.
Continue reading >>Spain has a Problem with its Judiciary
According to the EU Justice Scoreboard of 2019 Spain is among the four EU countries with the worst perception about judicial independence among its citizens. The survey shows a trend that isn’t stopping: the perception about partiality of the judiciary is growing dangerously in the Spanish society. Causes are to be found in three elements: the political situation in the country; the shortcomings in the regulations on judiciary; the behavior of the judges themselves.
Continue reading >>The Junqueras Saga Continues
Notwithstanding the clear message from the ECJ, the Spanish Supreme Court has decided that the Catalan separatist leader and MEP Oriol Junqueras will not be released from prison. The contradiction between the logic of the ECJ’s judgment of December 2019 and the decision of the Spanish Supreme Court of 8 January 2020 forms a new challenge for the EU legal order, in the sense that it puts the relationship between EU law and Spanish national law under strain.
Continue reading >>A Matter of Representative Democracy in the European Union
With its judgment in the Junqueras case, the Court adopted a functional approach to the election procedure of the European Parliament, proceeding from the principle of representative democracy as one of the core values in the EU legal order. In particular, the Court stressed the need to ensure that the composition of the European Parliament fully reflects the free choice of the Union’s citizens, by direct universal suffrage.
Continue reading >>The End of Parliamentary Government in Europe
Has parliamentary government, after almost two hundred years of honoured service, come to an end in Europe? The fact that Spain had two elections in seven months and is still nowhere near a stable government is just the latest of many signs that it is indeed so – and I wonder what the ruling classes in the European countries, excluding France, are waiting for in order to take note of the fact and to do, night and day, in order to put in place the necessary remedies.
Continue reading >>The Criminal Conviction of Catalan Secessionist Leaders and European Human Rights Law
In the controversial judgement of the Spanish Supreme Court against the Catalan secessionist leaders, seven defendants were found guilty of the crime of sedition (amongst others) and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 13 years. An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is likely but it is doubtful whether it will be successful.
Continue reading >>Constitutional Conflicts
Can the actions perpetrated by the leaders of the secessionist movement be understood to be crimes under Spanish law? Does the Spanish Constitution or international law protect those actions in the name of fundamental rights, including the right to protest? The Spanish Supreme Court deals with these issues in its lengthy opinion. A reply to José Luis Martí's assessment of that decision.
Continue reading >>An Exotic Right
The Spanish Supreme Court's ruling in the trial against Catalan secessionist leaders will definitely not help to solve the conflict. Quite on the contrary, it will make it intractable in the short run, as we are beginning to see in the riots in the streets of Barcelona. In my opinion, this ruling is unjust and legally wrong. Even worse, it is unconstitutional since it compromises the fundamental democratic rights of protest – the freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly, and the right to demonstrate.
Continue reading >>Empty Seats in the European Parliament: What About EU Citizenship?
The European Parliament started its new term with three empty seats. The Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont, Antoni Comín and Oriol Junqueras got elected in the European Parliamentary elections of 26 May 2019 but the Spanish Central Electoral Commission did not include their names in the list which was notified to the European Parliament on 17 June 2019. The reason is that that they did not appear in person to swear or affirm allegiance to the Spanish Constitution, which is a formal requirement under the Spanish election legislation. The President of the EU General Court dismissed an application of Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comín for interim measures by referring to the Spanish electoral law. Thereby, however, he completely ignored the EU citizenship dimension of the case.
Continue reading >>Diplomatisches Asyl als Einmischung? Venezuelas Oppositionsführer Leopoldo López in der spanischen Botschaft
Venezuela bleibt eine Quelle spannender völkerrechtlicher Fragen. Eine weitere Facette hat das komplexe Geschehen nun dadurch erhalten, dass sich der Oppositionspolitiker Leopoldo López seit Anfang Mai in der spanischen Botschaft in Caracas aufhält, um sich dem Zugriff der Regierung zu entziehen. Handelt es sich damit um eine Neuauflage der gerade zu Ende gegangenen Saga um den Aufenthalt von Julian Assange in der ecuadorianischen Botschaft in London?
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Politics and Criminal Law: The Trial against the Catalan Independence Leaders
On February 12th, the criminal trial against twelve Catalan independence leaders has started before the Spanish Supreme Court. It is surely the most important trial in the history of Spanish democracy for its political implications.
Continue reading >>The Spanish Model of Democracy Facing Trial
Tomorrow, the trail against nine Catalan separatist leaders will start. Without doubt, this trial will shape the future of the Spanish Constitution.
Continue reading >>Spanish Jurisdiction at Stake: Puigdemont’s Judge to be Judged by a Belgian Court?
Tomorrow, a new weird chapter opens up in the „affair Puigdemont“: The Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena, who unsuccessfully issued the European Arrest Warrant against former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont, is cited before a Belgian court. He is object of a civil lawsuit filed by Puigdemont who accuses the magistrate of a lack of impartiality and violating the presumption of innocence as well as his right to reputation. What is the most astonishing about this lawsuit is the fact that it is a Belgian court which shall judge the professional actions of a Spanish judge.
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Are National Governments Liable if They Miss Their Relocation Quota of Refugees?
Last week, the Spanish Supreme Court declared that between 2015 and 2017 the Government of Spain had failed to relocate 19.449 refugees from Greece and Italy. The Court considered in its Judgement of 9th July of 2018 that Spain was bound by two Council Decisions of May and September 2015 establishing an EU Emergency Relocation Mechanism aimed at distributing some of the refugees that arrived at their coasts during the so-called ‘refugee crisis’. The relocation mechanism included a table with the number of refugees Member States were obliged to accommodate in their own international protection systems (‘quota’).
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Ethnocentric Mambo in Catalonia
Catalonia is a fragile object. As in many other places, history has assembled fragments without completely fusing them, leaving behind scars that remind us of the effort required to join what is diverse. These scars demand special attention because, contrary to societies where the wounds that produced them are old and almost forgotten, in Catalonia many of the wounds were still suppurating just a few decades ago. As they do now. For months, we have been at risk of tearing them open.
Continue reading >>„Passive Indoctrination“ as a Terrorist Offense in Spain – A Regression from Constitutional Rights?
Spanish counter-terrorist legislation was originally aimed at fighting local terrorism of a nationalist nature. In Spain, the phenomenon was so present during the constituent process that the Constitution itself included a provision that allows certain fundamental rights to be suspended for specific persons, “in relation to the investigations corresponding to the actions of armed bands or terrorist elements” (art. 55.2 EC –Spanish Constitution-).
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The Strange (German) Case of Mr. Puigdemont’s European Arrest Warrant
The decision by the Oberlandesgericht of Schleswig in the Puigdemont case is a flawed ruling that seriously undermines the effectiveness of the European arrest warrant, and I would even say its future survival. It is also a manifest example of mistrust between courts of Member States, the type of conduct that destroys the foundations of mutual recognition and judicial cooperation.
Continue reading >>Der Fall Puigdemont – ein europäisches Problem!
Ist die Auslieferung von Carles Puigdemont tatsächlich allein der deutschen Justiz überantwortet? Zweifel sind angebracht. Denn blickt man genauer auf den EU-Rahmenbeschluss zum Europäischen Haftbefehl, wird schnell deutlich: Es