Rajoy takes Catalonia’s state structures to Constitutional Court

The day after Spain’s Constitutional Court chastised the Catalan government for having consulted the Catalan people about the future of their nation, the Spanish government has taken further steps to appeal against decisions by the Catalan parliament. Last Friday, Rajoy’s cabinet requested the suspension of the Catalan law of March 11 that aims to regulate the creation of state structures.

At a press conference, Spanish vice president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría stressed that her government regards this legislation as unconstitutional, inasmuch as it stems from the Catalan parliament’s prior declaration of sovereignty and considers it to be “an early step” towards a hypothetical Catalan independence scenario. The Spanish government feels that these decisions are “tricks” by Catalan president Artur Mas to “dodge the law” until the Constitutional Court rules that they are unconstitutional.

The Spanish government’s view, according to Sáenz de Santamaría, is that the state structures included in the Catalan law are, among others, the creation of Catalonia’s Treasury and a full inventory of the administration’s assets in Catalonia, as well as the takeover of strategic facilities in an eventual unilateral declaration of independence.

The Spanish vice president stated that her government’s appeal has the blessings of the Council of State and the ministries of Justice, Economy and Treasury, as well as the Home Office, all of which are “affected” by the creation of these structures. Furthermore, she recalled how Catalonia’s Council for Statutory Guarantees (1) had already warned, when her party enquired about the matter, that “there were unconstitutional elements” in the law.

Spanish president Mariano Rajoy can sign the appeal as late as June 15. Once it is lodged with the Constitutional Court, article 161.2 of the Constitution will be invoked, whereupon every article contested will be suspended.

Two further pieces of legislation have also come under attack: the general plan for Catalonia’s Revenue Service and the Catalan Social Security. Specifically, the appeal requests that articles 69 and 95 of the Catalan law 3/2015 that was passed on March 15 be suspended. This legislation includes fiscal, financial and administrative measures. Additional Dispositions 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 may also be struck down.

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(1) N.T. Catalonia’s Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (Council for Statutory Guarantees) is an advisory institution that opines on whether a piece of legislation conflicts with the Spanish Constitution or the Catalan Statute.