- Background
Organic Law 1/2024 of 10 June 2024 on Amnesty for the Institutional, Political and Social Normalisation of Catalonia was adopted following the political agreements that made Pedro Sánchez’s investiture possible after the general elections of 23 July 2023. Its approval responded to the demand of the Catalan pro-independence political forces to extinguish the criminal, administrative and financial liabilities arising from Catalonia’s independence process.
Since its entry into force, the implementation of the law has been marked by intense legal controversy and uneven application. While the Amnesty has been applied swiftly in numerous proceedings involving members of the Spanish police forces, its application to the main political leaders and to certain pro-independence activists has been subject to particularly restrictive interpretations.
In particular, the Spanish Supreme Court excluded certain alleged cases of misuse of public funds from the scope of the law and, at that procedural stage, decided not to refer a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the same time, the Constitutional Court, through Judgment STC 137/2025 and subsequent case law, upheld the constitutional legitimacy of the Amnesty in its essential elements, without prejudice to the specific corrections established in that ruling.
The two judgments delivered today by the Grand Chamber of the CJEU resolve the preliminary rulings submitted, respectively, by the Spanish Court of Auditors concerning financial liability linked to the October 1st 2017 referendum and the Generalitat’s foreign action, and by the National Court, concerning the application of the Amnesty to acts classified as terrorism allegedly committed by members of the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDRs).
- Assessment of the CJEU judgments
In their overall orientation, the judgments of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union are favourable to the compatibility of Organic Law 1/2024 with EU law in the areas examined. Without prejudice to the particular nuances of each ruling, the CJEU has rejected the notion that EU law may be used as a general obstacle to prevent the application of the Amnesty in relation to the financial liabilities arising from October 1st and the acts attributed to members of the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDRs).
These rulings strengthen the legal validity of the law and remove, or substantially reduce, some of the main arguments invoked to obstruct its implementation. The interpretation established by the CJEU is binding and must be applied by all Spanish judicial and accounting authorities affected.
The judgments do not automatically resolve all internal proceedings, nor do they by themselves determine the specific criminal situation of all individuals affected, particularly with regard to the interpretation of the offence of misuse of public funds upheld by the Supreme Court. However, they prevent EU law from continuing to be invoked in a generic manner to delay or unjustifiably restrict the application of the law.
The significance of these decisions is not limited to the best-known political leaders. They also affect the CDR activists prosecuted in Operation Judas, as well as many other anonymous individuals who continue to face criminal, administrative or financial proceedings linked to the independence process.
The Catalan National Assembly therefore demands that the Spanish courts immediately apply the CJEU’s doctrine, without further delays or artificially restrictive interpretations, and restore as swiftly as possible the rights of all individuals falling within the scope of the Amnesty Law.
- Political assessment
The CJEU judgments constitute an important legal victory over the attempts to turn European law into a new barrier to the Amnesty. Nevertheless, neither the Amnesty nor these rulings resolve the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain. This conflict can only find a democratic solution through the effective recognition of the Catalan people’s right to freely decide their political future.
The entire process of drafting and implementing the law has demonstrated the extent to which judicialisation has been used to shape and constrain a conflict that is essentially political in nature. The CJEU’s decision must serve to put an end to institutional resistance and to prevent further delays in repairing the personal, family, professional and financial consequences of repression.
The Catalan National Assembly reiterates its support for all those subjected to repression: political leaders, activists and ordinary citizens. The application of the Amnesty does not in any way imply an acknowledgement of guilt or acceptance of the classification as criminal offences of actions which, in a democratic state, would never be considered crimes. Likewise, Assemblea respects those who, in keeping with their principles, have politically rejected the Amnesty as a sufficient or fair solution.
- Resolution
For all these reasons, the Catalan National Assembly:
- Welcomes the overall favourable outcome of the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which confirm the essential compatibility of the Amnesty Law with EU law in the areas examined.
- Calls on the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the Spanish Court of Auditors, the National Court and all other competent bodies to immediately apply the CJEU’s doctrine, without new restrictive interpretations or undue delays.
- Reiterates its support for all those subjected to repression and recalls that the application of the Amnesty does not entail any acknowledgement of guilt, nor does it legitimise the judicial persecution they have suffered.
- Reaffirms the commitment of the Catalan National Assembly to continue working democratically to bring Catalonia’s independence process to completion.