Spain’s Supreme Court asks lawyer for a €6,000 deposit to bring charges against judge Lamela
Asensio wants to charge the National Court judge responsible for the 1-O case with neglect of duty
MadridLawyer Josep Asensio i Serqueda has started a campaign to raise money in order to bring charges against the investigating judge of the National Court Carmen Lamela, who first sent Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart to prison and subsequently remanded seven Catalan government ministers.
However, before the Supreme Court decides whether it will hear the charges of neglect of duty against Lamela, resulting from the investigations she has made into the case against the pro-independence leaders, it insists the lawyer first pay a deposit of 6,000 euros.
Manuel Marchena, Luciano Varela and Andrés Martínez Arrieta, the three magistrates that are to consider the matter, have demanded the payment before deciding whether to accept the charges, while also requiring the lawyer to first submit a report. Nevertheless, payment of the 6,000-euro deposit in no way means the court will end up ruling in the complainant’s favour. According to the interlocutory judgment "a preliminary question that must be resolved before entering into a decision as to the merits of the case has to do with the legal nature of the action carried out by the complainant".
With regard to the amount of the deposit, the law specifies that it must be "proportionate and equitable so that it does not prevent anyone from having access to the judicial process for financial reasons". The High Court argues that the sum of 6,000 euros that it demands meet this prerequisite.
