Law on the Referendum of Self-Determination by the Parliament of Catalonia
Spain Constitutional Court
Judgment 114/2017 (2017)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
In September 2017, the Parliament of the Spanish region of Catalonia (the Catalan Parliament) (defendant) passed law 19/2017 “on the self-determination referendum” (law 19/2017), which provided that a legally binding referendum on Catalan independence would be held in October 2017. Law 19/2017 gave the Catalan Parliament the power to declare the region’s independence unilaterally if the referendum passed. The president of Spain (plaintiff) brought an action in the Spain Constitutional Court, asserting that law 19/2017 was unconstitutional. The president asserted that the Spanish constitution was based on the principle that Spain is one unified nation that recognizes and protects the autonomy and solidarity of the country’s various regions and nationalities. The president argued that law 19/2017 was incompatible with that constitutional principle because the law declared that the Catalan people were sovereign political subjects to be represented by the Catalan Parliament. The president further asserted that law 19/2017 violated provisions of the Spanish constitution that recognized Spain as a parliamentary monarchy and established the constitution as a binding authority on Spanish citizens and public authorities. The Spain Constitutional Court considered the president’s challenges.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning ()
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