• Unanimous decision says resolution in ‘absolute contradiction’ to Constitution
• Catalan secessionists now risk prosecution if they choose to defy court ruling
Spain’s Constitutional Court has ruled definitively against a pro-Independence resolution passed by the regional parliament of Cataluna in October, finding it to be in “absolute contradiction to the Constitution and to the Estatut“, [the governing Statute of Cataluña].
In a unanimous ruling handed down Wednesday, the 11-judge court also noted that Spain’s Constitution is not set in stone and can be amended to enable regional governments to hold referendums on secession, advising the Catalan parliament that they should seek to reform the Constitution if they wish to legally pursue that goal.
The court criticized the Catalan pro-Independence parties for having tarnished with the secessionist declaration the “legitimacy of the Parliament of Cataluña, which is recognized and protected by the Constitution.” The justices also said the Catalan resolution had denied the national sovereignty of Spain, a matter that can only be decided upon “exclusively and indivisibly” by the entire Spanish people.
The court ruling is a setback for the Independence movement in Cataluña, which must now decide whether or not to defy the court ruling and risk having its leaders in the Catalan parliament prosecuted if they proceed with the process mapped out within the resolution for a complete break with Spain.
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