Parliamentary Immunity as a Privilege
On 5 February 2026, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in Case C-572/23 P, annulling the European Parliament’s decisions of 9 March 2021 waiving the parliamentary immunity of Carles Puigdemont, Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí. In particular, the CJEU requires the rapporteur of the committee responsible for the reasoned proposal to be insulated from even indirect political links with the party that instigated the underlying criminal proceedings. This reinforces the perception of immunity as a personal privilege rather than a functional safeguard.
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Spanish Judges on Strike
“Save the rule of Law in Spain”, read a banner held by a number of unidentified judges who were demonstrating before the premises of the Spanish Supreme Court, a couple of days ago in Madrid. But save it – from whom? The demonstrators would no doubt reply: from Pedro Sánchez and his government, which has undertaken the first serious reform of the Spanish judiciary since the transition to democracy. But the reform is not the only reason why the Spanish judges have been on strike.
Continue reading >>EU’s Involvement in the Renewal of the Spanish Council of the Judiciary
The growing political polarization of Western liberal democracies often leads to situations of political deadlock that require the intervention of an external authority capable of untangling the knot. After the second (fruitless) meeting held today between Commissioner Reynders and representatives of the Spanish government and the main opposition party, there is no simple solution in sight to an issue of the renewal of the Spanish Council of the Judiciary with significant implications for the immediate future of the Spanish political scenario. In this blog, I argue that underneath all the technical layers of legal order invoked under the generic defence of the rule of law, there are political and democratic debates for which the EU may play an important yet uncertain and questionable role.
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