Lluís Corominas, Anna Simó, Ramona Barrufet and Lluís Guinó, as former members of the Catalan Parliament Bureau, when it was presided by Carme Forcadell, have defended their parliamentary inviolability and maintained that their actions allowed parliamentary debate and freedom of speech, in the repetition of the trial against them for the crime of disobeying the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC), held this Tuesday in the Catalan High Court of Justice. Former first vice-president of the Catalan Parliament Bureau, Lluís Corominas (JuntsxSí), only answered to his lawyer, Judit Gené, and assured that in the 9 years that he was part of the Bureau "thousands of resolutions on what used to be called the right to decide and the constituent process were admitted", and assured: "We thought that in our actions we were protected by parliamentary inviolability". He added that as from 2018 (when they were no longer in the Bureau) the consolidated jurisprudence on the functioning of the Bureau was changed, and that it involves analysing the proposals of the groups before admitting them for consideration.
Corominas also stated that the two warnings he received from the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) were "incomprehensible", as they referred to not developing resolution 1/XI, which was very broad. A reasoning shared by the other members of the Bureau of the Parliament, which was dissolved by the Spanish Government through Article 155. At the entrance of the Catalan High Court, Corominas, Simó, Barrufet and Guinó received the support of the pro-independence parties, with members of Junts, Esquerra Republicana (ERC), and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC).
Injured
At the start of the trial, Judit Gené, lawyer of the three former members of Junts, exposed two grievances in the retrial. The first is that it did not allow them to stand for election. The four members of Forcadell's Bureau were each sentenced to a 1-year and 8 months ban from holding public office in October 2020 for the crime of disobeying the Spanish Constitutional Court, and the Spanish Supreme Court "has taken two years" to resolve an appeal and repeat the trial in the Catalan High Court, she denounced. The Central Electoral Commission forbids standing for a list or holding elected office, even if the conviction for a crime of disobedience is not final. Former catalan president Quim Torra knows this well.
"They have already served their sentence", said Gené, and asked for the mitigating circumstance of undue delay to be considered because of the time spent. She even compared those convicted of disobedience for the Catalan pro-independence process in the Spanish Supreme Court: former ministers Carles Mundó, Santi Vila and Meritxell Borràs, convicted in 2019, which have already served their sentence, that banned them from holding public office in June 2021, while the defendants of the 2017 Bureau "were not even sentenced in the first instance".
The second aggravation, according to Gené, is that members of the Bureau before 2015 have not been prosecuted for not controlling the content of the initiatives, nor have they after that, as the Bureau of the Parliament presided by Roger Torrent, in 2019, was acquitted by the Catalan High Court after processing two resolutions on independence and against the Spanish king. The Public Prosecutor's Office, however, has already announced that it will file an appeal.
Deputies' defence
Former first secretary of the Catalan Parliament's Bureau, Anna Simó (ERC), also responded only to her lawyer, Raimon Tomàs, and recalled that the Bureau "has no legislative power" and that in the process of admission "a formal control of the initiatives" presented in the Catalan Parliament by the political groups was made, and that it is the Spokesperson Bureau which decides the plenary session's agenda. "The Spanish Constitutional Court's ruling of 2015 was generalist and incomprehensive, as Corominas said," stated Simó, referring to the requirements she later received from this body, which referred to complying with this ruling. "The Parliament is where initiatives are debated, and many had been admitted on the right to decide", she said.
Simó also recalled that it was the Junts and CUP parties who made the request, in the plenary session in progress, for the inclusion of the debate on the so-called laws of disconnection, that is, the proposed laws of the referendum and of transitional jurisprudence, on September 6th and 7th 2017. "I understood that the exercise of our functions was to defend the MP's rights. The Bureau of the Parliament was all about parliamentary initiative and control of the Catalan government", she declared, and also advocated for parliamentary inviolability.
In her questioning, Ramona Barrufet (JuntsxSí) declared: "I do not understand why they made us act as censors, I do not understand it". She insisted that "the members of the Bureau were impartial", and stated that they complied with the Catalan Parliament's regulations.
Finally, Lluís Guinó, who replaced Corominas in July 2017 and who is currently mayor of the Catalan town of Besalú, assured that in the indictment of the laws of disconnection, on September 6th and 7th 2017, the Catalan president of the Parliament read a warning from the Spanish Constitutional Court that was addressed "to all MPs", that the Bureau's purpose "is to channel the initiatives of the parliamentary groups", and for this reason, they did not sign the 2017 initiative.
Guinó defended the Bureau's role, and added that it cannot be asked to control political proposals beforehand, given that its members do not have specialized training and "to guarantee freedom of speech and thought and the diversity of the chamber" it must be done after the debate.
Moreover, Corominas added that when he was later president of the JuntsxSí political party, he did not receive any request from the Spanish Constitutional Court, despite having presented the laws of disconnection with the CUP's spokesperson Mireia Boya, the only MP to have been prosecuted for the Catalan pro-independence process, who was ultimately acquitted by the Catalan High Court.
Claim of parliamentary inviolability
In the preliminary questions, Judit Gené, the Junts defendant's lawyer, claimed their parliamentary inviolability and that they should not have to be tried. "The Bureau of the Parliament is not an administrative body, nor can it act as a Constitutional Court and prohibit beforehand. They processed proposals and gave parliamentary impetus", stated Gené, and stated that "it cannot be that MPs are protected due to their vote, and the Bureau MPs are not, when they allow parliamentary debate". Gené also insisted that the State Attorney's Office should be expelled from the proceedings, since it was not present in the initial one, against former president of parliament Carme Forcadell.
For his part, Raimon Tomàs, Anna Simó's lawyer, argued that the Catalan High Court of Justice is not the competent court to try her because, according to Spanish laws, they should not be tried by ordinary courts. He also criticized the Spanish Constitutional Court's "interference" in the Spanish Congress of Deputies case.
Tomàs insisted on the parliamentary inviolability of the ERC defendant and referred to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to defend the rights of freedom of speech and politics. He also called for the expulsion of the State Attorney's Office because "it has no legitimacy", given that they are not accused of embezzlement.
Law with limits
Pedro Ariche, the deputy public prosecutor, replied that "yes, the parliamentary inviolability of the defendants has been respected", and that it is the Catalan High Court which will have to rule, adding that the trial will show "whether it is an absolute power or not" and whether "the parliamentary chambers can breach resolutions". "It has its limits", said Ariche, who added that as European jurisprudence "is not very specific", the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court's references of the rulings must be assumed. Ariche said that the State Attorney's Office should continue with the proceedings, and that the Catalan High Court "is competent" to judge them.
Beatriz Vizcaíno, the State's lawyer, stated that the court has to decide whether the defendants have parliamentary inviolability in its ruling, but advocated for the Spanish Constitutional's Court ruling of 2021, and even stated that the State Attorney "is not a party" but ensures compliance with the administration. Right-wing Vox is a popular accusation. The court, presided over by Fernando Lacaba, has indicated that it will resolve the appeal of parliamentary inviolability in its ruling.
The trial continues on Wednesday with the witnesses' testimony, such as the Catalan Parliament lawyers.