About a hundred jurists have signed a manifesto against the pardons to the leaders of the ‘procés’. Powered by civic platform ‘Consensus and regeneration’, the text considers that the governmental pardon to Catalan politicians convicted of sedition “presents serious risks for the defense of the rule of law and the separation of powers in Spain”.
The manifesto is signed by jurists, lawyers, professors and professors of Law, and marks the Government of use pardons for reasons of political opportunity.
The signatories also do not trust that the approval of the pardons go to solve the existing political situation in Catalonia, and that said concession will deepen the idea for many citizens that the “Rule of Law does not apply to everyone equally and that politicians enjoy a different and privileged status compared to the laws in force.”
Here, you can read the full text:
The undersigned consider that the granting of pardons to politicians convicted by the “procés” ruling presents serious risks for the defense of the rule of law and the separation of powers in Spain. Having ruled against the concession both the sentencing court and the Prosecutor’s Office, the granting of the pardon is still possible for the Government, but it must justify that it is not an arbitrary or unreasonable decision and that the circumstances of equity and justice are effectively present. or public utility required by the regulatory law. The review of the granting of the pardon is possible through the courts, precisely to verify whether or not it is arbitrary or unreasonable or inconsistent in view of the circumstances of the specific case, among which it is important to highlight not only the lack of repentance on the part of the condemned but their intention to do it again. This has been stated repeatedly along with their conviction that the sentence has been unfair and disproportionate and that they are political prisoners, to the point that the pardon has been requested by third parties and not by those convicted.
It is true that it is not the first time that a government has used the pardon tool for reasons of opportunity (political, partisan or of another nature) against the mandatory reports of the sentencing court and prosecution, which precisely motivated an attempt reform the institution to avoid possible abuses by the Executive Branch that ultimately did not prosper. But it is also true that at this point in the 21st century and in a matter of such transcendence, it does not seem advisable either from a legal or political point of view to force the limits of the institution and cause significant tension with the Judiciary, given that predictably these Pardons will be appealed before the courts of justice. It is convenient not to oppose legitimacies and erode institutions at a time when all are necessary.
On the other hand, and beyond legal considerations, we also want to emphasize that it does not seem that the granting of these pardons is going to provoke any improvement in the existing political situation in Catalonia, where the fracture, let’s not forget, occurs between independentists and not independentistas. We believe that it also deepens the conviction of many citizens that the rule of law does not apply to everyone equally and that politicians enjoy a different and privileged status compared to the laws in force. We also consider that non-independence Catalan citizens may feel, once again, abandoned by the institutions that should defend respect for the rules of the game. The deterioration of coexistence and respect for the rule of law in Catalonia in recent years does not seem to be overcome with more fractures and with less respect for the rule of law.
For these reasons, we believe that the search for a solution to the conflict between Catalans must pass through scrupulous respect for the democratic State of Law and the Constitution of 1978 as the great political pact constituting our coexistence. The rules of the game can be changed and improved, but it is essential to respect the established channels and open the widest possible public debate that guarantees the participation of all.
Signatories
Manuel Alegre Nueno. Prof. Head of Labor Law and Social Security (University of Valencia)Segismundo Álvarez Royo-Villanova. Notary.Joan Amenós Álamo. Professor of Administrative LawRafael Arenas García. Professor of Private International Law (Autonomous University of Barcelona) Mariano Javier Aznar Gómez. Professor of Public International Law (Universitat Jaume I).Daniel Berzosa López. Lawyer.Antonio J. Blanco Corredoira. LawyerRoberto Blanco Valdés. Professor of Constitutional Law.Javier Borrego Borrego. Former State Attorney, ECHR Judge and TS Magistrate.Antonio Bueno Armijo. Professor of Administrative Law (University of Córdoba).Roberto O. Bustillo Bolado. Lawyer.Aránzazu Calzada González. Professor.Francesc de Carreras Serra. Professor of Constitutional Law.Virginia Casajuana. LawyerCristina Castelló. LawyerJosé Enrique Castro-Acuña Aranda. LawyerAntonio Cebrián Carrillo. LawyerManuel Cebrián Ledesma. Lawyer.Raquel Cortijo Cámara. LawyerJosé Luis Costas Algara. Lawyer.Matilde Cuena. Professor of Civil Law (Complutense University).Elisa De la Nuez. State Attorney on leave.Josu de Miguel. Professor of Constitutional Law.Ramón de Veciana Batlle. Lawyer.José María Del Pino Jimeno. Lawyer.María Jesús Dorronsoro Zubillaga. Lawyer.Ramón Durán Rivacoba. Professor of Civil Law (University of Oviedo).Ignacio Gomá Lanzón. Notary.Tomás Ramón Fernández. Professor of Administrative LawMiguel Fernández Benavides. LawyerJuan Ramón Fernández Torres. University Professor and Lawyer.Alonso Agustín Fernández-Avilés. LawyerIsabel Ferrer Abella. LawyerLuis Figueroa. Lawyer.Mercedes Strong. Professor of Administrative Law.Paula García Rodríguez. Lawyer.Ernesto García Trevijano. LawyerCarlos García Valdés. Professor of Criminal Law (UAH)Rufino Gil Hernández. Lawyer.Eduardo Goig. Lawyer.Raquel González Benito. LawyerMatías González Corona. LawyerLuis Miguel González González. Lawyer.David Guillem-Tatay. Professor of Biolaw and Sanitary Civil Responsibility (UCV)Javier Guillen. LawyerCecilia Gutiérrez Ganzarain. State AttorneyCarmen Hinojosa. Lawyer.Pablo Hornedo Muguiro. Lawyer.Pere Lluís Huguet Tous. LawyerManuel León Rodríguez. Lawyer and EconomistJosé Antonio López Casas. LawyerAntonio López Roa. LawyerAlexandra López-Liz Corbella. Lawyer.Araceli Mangas Martín. Professor of Public International Law and International Relations (Complutense University of Madrid).Javier Mejías Seville. LawyerJuan Carlos Menéndez Mato. Professor of Civil Law (UNED).María Luz Melero Rodríguez. Lawyer.Ángel Menéndez Rexach. Emeritus Professor of Administrative LawManuel Miró Echevarne. Lawyer.Juan Antonio Montoya Leal. LawyerJosé María Múgica. LawyerAna Isabel Núñez Mallo. Lawyer Albert María Ocejo. Lawyer.Pablo Ojeda Baños. LawyerAntonio Francisco Ordóñez. Lawyer and civil servantAlberto Osácar Ibarrola. LawyerAntonio Pavón Ortiz. LawyerCarmen Pérez Fontes. LawyerDiego Ponce Godoy. Lawyer.J. Ignacio Prendes Prendes. LawyerFrancisco José Ramos Vega. LawyerAlfonso Rodríguez de Quiñones de Torres. Professor of Commercial Law (University of Seville).Sonia Rodríguez-Campos González. Jurist and university professor.Alfonso Ruiz de Assin Chico de Guzmán. LawyerAlejandro Ruiz de Pedro. Lawyer. Former Group President in the Cortes of CLM. Former MP.María Luisa Ruiz-Gálvez Priego. Professor (Complutense University)Elena Saenz from Jubera. LawyerJuan Antonio Sagardoy. LawyerLuis Santamaria Ortiz. LawyerVicente Sierra Rocafort. Lawyer.Salomé Soriano Granda. Lawyer.Francisco Sosa Wagner. Professor of Administrative Law.Javier Tajadura Tejada. Professor of Constitutional Law.Rodrigo Tena Arregui. NotaryGermán M. Teruel Lozano. Professor of Constitutional Law (University of Murcia).José Torné-Dombidau Jiménez. Professor of Administrative Law (UGR) and President of the Forum for Civil Concord.Federico Trias de Bes Recolóns. LawyerAlfonso Valero Aguado. Lawyer.Silvia Valmaña Ochaita. Professor of Criminal Law (UCLM).Veronica van Kesteren Valery. Lawyer.Emilio Vieira Jiménez-Ontiveros. Lawyer. Professor of Civil Law (U. Loyola Andalucía).Belén Villalba Salvador. LawyerInés Villanueva Calleja. Lawyer.José Luís Villar Ezcurra. Lawyer.Eduardo Vírgala Foruria. Retired Professor of Constitutional Law (University of the Basque Country).Isaac Vivas Alonso. Lawyer.Isabel Stores Arce. LawyerJosé Antonio Yturriaga Barberan. Ambassador of Spain and professor of Diplomatic Law (UCM).
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