Llarena will not reactivate the arrest warrant for Puigdemont pending the European Court

The Euro arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont will not be activated soon.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
26 July 2023 Wednesday 16:21
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Llarena will not reactivate the arrest warrant for Puigdemont pending the European Court

The Euro arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont will not be activated soon. The investigating judge of the procés, Pablo Llarena, has cooled the possibility of launching again the search and capture and imprisonment of the former president of the Generalitat, as requested by the Prosecutor's Office last Monday —not even 24 hours after the general elections— .

Llarena has agreed this Thursday to consider the petitions of the Public Ministry and the popular prosecution to reactivate the Euro-warrants and international arrest warrants, but has chosen not to resolve until the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) pronounce on the possible precautionary measures that both can present to see their parliamentary immunity provisionally restored.

The judge recalls that the judgment of the General Court of the European Union (TGUE), of July 5, which dismissed the appeals of the defendants against the decision of the European Parliament to grant the petition against both requested by the judge, is susceptible to be appealed in cassation before the CJEU within a period of 2 months and 10 days —until September 15, 2023—, being able, in such a case, to reiterate before the CJEU the request that parliamentary immunity be provisionally and provisionally restored.

The instructor explains in a ruling that any Euro-order issued in the current state of the procedure would be immediately paralyzed —before achieving its purpose— if the CJEU admitted the eventual precautionary measure that is requested at the time of the appeal; forcing to interrupt its international processing and making the advancement of the arrest warrant inconsequential at this time.

On the other hand, adds the ruling, if the decision adopted by the TGUE is not appealed or, in the event of an appeal, if the CJEU decides to reject the precautionary measure that is requested with the challenge of the sentence, the decision that they request may be adopted the accusations sufficiently operatively in advance, given that the maximum period established by Framework Decision 2002/584/JAI to resolve any claim for delivery is three months, the judge stressed.

Consequently, the magistrate reasons, there would be no difficulty for the defendants to be placed at the disposal of the Spanish Justice before dissolving the Parliament for which they were elected and for whose performance they were granted the immunity whose suspension was requested from the beginning.

For the judge, the principle of loyal cooperation that operates as a governing rule between the public bodies of the Union and its Member States, should be oriented to the fact that, having requested the request immediately after the current Parliament was constituted, if the suspension of the requested immunity was granted and if it is legally valid, the jurisdictional initiative should be able to achieve the purpose for which it is intended; It being an anomaly that the constitution of a new Parliament in June 2024 forces this instructor to restart the process, the Providence highlights.

For all these reasons, the judge has presented the petition of the accusations; and adds that it will be resolved once the Court of Justice of the European Union rules on any precautionary measures requested by the defendants on the occasion of the appeal filed against the Judgment of the General Court of the European Union of July 5, 2023.