Experts in Constitutional Law agree that the "logical" thing has been that the plenary session of the Constitutional Court did not adopt yesterday – nor will it do so on Monday – the precautionary measures that ask to block the judicial reform in Congress. “An appeal for amparo [such as the one formulated by the Popular Party] cannot paralyze the legislative process; It would be a way of exercising a prior control of constitutionality”, explains Paloma Biglino, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Valladolid, to La Vanguardia.
For Elviro Aranda, from the Carlos III University of Madrid, the "entanglement" that has accentuated the clash between powers is found in the request to paralyze Parliament to protect fundamental rights that have allegedly been violated, those of the exercise of parliamentary office. This professor also considers that this is not an exceptional case for the precautionary measures to be agreed. "Parliament decisions have a presumption of constitutionality," recalls Aranda in reference to the incorporation of the amendments that have sparked the controversy. If the rights of the opposition deputies have not been protected, the TC will decide, if it accepts the appeal, when it comes.
"It is less traumatic to tell the Congress of Deputies that it has not done well [through a sentence in the future], than to order it to dissolve to prevent a vote," summarizes Carlos Flores, also a professor at the University of Valencia. This expert in Constitutional Law points out that what is being resolved now is not a question of substance, but of form. That is, how it is intended to change the law of the CGPJ and the TC through a reform of the Penal Code.
And in this way, Antoni Bayona, who served as senior lawyer of the Parliament of Catalonia during the turbulent years of the process, considers that "it is very difficult to justify" the precautionary measures that are requested because the Popular Party does have room to present its amendments during the processing in the Senate. For Bayona, this case is not parallel to the disconnection laws approved by the Catalan Parliament in 2017. "There were no precautionary measures, there was a challenge, which is something very different," clarifies the doctor of Law, for whom the jurisdiction "very exceptional” that emerged during the process has vitiated a relationship between powers that should be “more of a reference” to get out of this “total institutional crisis”.
Lastly, the experts consulted on the matter recall that the Constitution has sufficient jurisprudence for when it gets to the bottom of the issue that has raised this political and judicial dust. And it is that the TC has knocked down reforms because the amendments did not have "any material relationship" with the legislative initiative processed at that time. But that will be through sentence -when it touches-.
