The representation of the State in the cause of 'procés' considers that "it would be possible to allow" its displacement both to the Central Electoral Board and to the headquarters of the European Parliament to comply with the necessary procedures.
In its brief, this body has also asked the Chamber to make it possible for the former Catalan vice-president to exercise his representative function, while maintaining his MEP status, in application of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of the past December 19, which answers the question referred for a preliminary ruling on the extent of its immunity raised by the Spanish court.
The legal services of the State also urge the Supreme Court to adopt the assurance measures that it deems most appropriate to guarantee the parliamentary mission of Junqueras and at the same time, compliance with the ruling of the high court of October 14 (the relapse in the case del 'procés'), a resolution to which the Advocacy grants full validity by having been dictated "with strict observance of the essential norms of criminal procedure".
For that reason, the Advocacy claims that the Spanish magistrates request "as soon as possible" to the European Parliament the suspension of the immunity of Junqueras recognized by the Luxembourg court in application of the procedure set out in its own ruling of December 19.
The State Advocate recalls that the Supreme Court, in several of its resolutions, has admitted that Junqueras could continue to have some type of immunity if the CJEU recognized it. The Chamber itself, in a letter sent to Luxembourg on October 14, accepted the effectiveness of the decision of the European court, although the former Catalan vice-president had gone from being a preventive prisoner to a prisoner.
After studying the European ruling, the Advocacy, in accordance with its letter of June 10, concludes that Oriol Junqueras continues to enjoy immunity as a MEP since, so far, the Central Electoral Board, the competent body for To resolve all issues related to the proclamation of candidates for European elections, he has not ruled on the incompatibility of his sentence with his status as an elected European parliamentarian.
The effects of immunity
The representation of the State underlines that the European judgment gives a series of keys to understand the effects that the immunity recognized to Junqueras must produce. The letter understands that, according to the CJEU resolution, these effects should not be limited to allowing the elected MEP to move to the European Parliament to take office, but that the recognized immunity has the express purpose that the members of that Chamber "may fulfill its mission ", according to Article 343 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) invoked by Luxembourg.
According to the Advocacy, it is the Supreme that must decide the way in which it is possible for Junqueras to carry out that mission, which is not limited only to that displacement, but implies "the performance of its representative function as long as it maintains its parliamentary status ".
A "novel and complex" doctrine
The letter recalls that European law is part of the legal systems of the Member States, which are obliged to respect it as it has primacy over national rights. This means that, in case of conflict between a national rule and a provision or an act of a European institution, the national courts must apply the European provision.
Advocacy describes the new Luxembourg doctrine on the immunity of Europarliamentarians as "novel and complex". At the same time, it ensures that the CJEU's ruling allows us to conclude that the Supreme Court's action has accommodated European jurisprudence until now. And he argues that the question referred for a preliminary ruling by the Spanish high court "was a successful exercise by the national court to ensure a uniform interpretation of Union law."