(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
On 27 September, a regional parliamentary election was held in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia. The parties Junts pel Sí and Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) won with an election promise to establish their own Catalan state within 18 months. But it is not only in political campaigns that the independence movement seeks to create an increased degree of autonomy. It also happens in the legal arena. Since early 2014, a group of 21 lawyers has been secretly working on a draft constitution for an imaginary Catalan state – a draft that entails sweeping reforms if the constitution were to be adopted. The legal group has been led by the 61-year-old former judge Santiago Marsal Vidal, and it has traveled around various countries to do research. The draft is inspired by legislation in Germany, the USA, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Denmark, and is published on the website unanovaconstitucio.cat. Arrangements are being made here for Catalans to propose new additions to the constitution. Judge with a professional ban. Work on alternative constitutions has not fallen into good ground with the Spanish authorities – but for the moment, only the lawyer Santiago Vidal has had to answer for his actions through legal sanctions. Spain's Chief Judicial Supervisor, Judicial Power General Council (Consejo General del Poder Judicial) has stated that Vidal's political statements and activities are deeply problematic and that they do not fall within the scope of freedom of expression. They consider that Vidal has participated in activities that are incompatible with his professional obligations, and that he has violated the obligations he as a judge has towards the Constitution. In February this year, a majority of the General Council members voted for Vidal to be suspended from office for three years – without pay – for drafting a Catalan constitution. He has also lost the right to return to his former position. If he wants to practice his profession after the prohibition on occupation, he must be assigned a different judicial position in Spain. Fred Republic. The draft Constitution describes a republic where the country's head is president, while the executive power is assigned to a prime minister with his own government. The Republic is described as a "nation of peace" and the country is without its own army. Spanish and Catalan languages are given equal status, but Catalan should take precedence in public administration.
"The experience we have with the Constitutional Court in Spain is terrible."
The electoral system is structured so that no parties or electoral lists can get two thirds of the voters' votes, and no elected representative can sit longer than two election periods. The salary of elected representatives may not exceed 10 times what is defined as the minimum wage, or "basic income", for the population. No one can receive pensions that last a lifetime. These are just some of the key features of the proposed constitution. By the way, this group is not alone in working on sketches for a Catalan constitution. Another group of Catalan lawyers, working at universities in several countries, have drafted an alternative draft constitution for an independent Catalonia. This group is led by Oriol Vidal-Aparicio, a professor of political science at Arizona State University in the United States. The Catalan lawyer and author Sebastià Sardiné from Lawyers for Independence will also draft a temporary constitution for Catalonia in collaboration with the civil organization Catalan National Assembly (ANC). Have not given up the fight. Ny Tid met Santiago Vidal in his office in the center of Barcelona, in the building for the justice administration of the Catalan self-government authorities. There he works on a daily basis as director of a program to introduce legal reforms in Catalonia. He points out to Ny Tid that his draft law emphasizes the protection of freedom of expression for lawyers in Catalonia. In the draft of a Catalan constitution, the freedom of expression of lawyers is protected in Article 73.2: “The law shall determine the sanctions to be imposed on servants, for conduct which does not comply with their mandate. Under no circumstances shall freedom of expression, free speech and intellectual work be prohibited. " Whether the constitution reflected in the draft would have given him better protection today than the current, current Spanish laws is an open question. Vidal chooses to look ahead – towards a future where Catalan law protects the citizens of a Catalan republic. "During the transition period, my personal situation will remain the same. Although the Spanish law does not prohibit freedom of expression for judges, it has been interpreted in a way that is very restrictive, "says Vidal. "The interpretation has become so restrictive that the work I have done with the constitution has cost me my position. At the moment Catalonia becomes a republic, the judges will be able to be granted full freedom to express their views to the mass media. But it will still be forbidden to belong to a political party while holding a judicial office, "he says. Vidal wants to create an impartial legal system in Catalonia as much as possible. According to him, this requires a fundamental restructuring of the state apparatus. He wants first and foremost to turn the course away from current practice in Spain, where it is possible for parliament to appoint the majority of judges to the Constitutional Court. The independence movement in Catalonia has previously criticized that this has led to the largest political parties electing judges who are opposed to an increased degree of autonomy in Catalonia. "The experience we have with the Constitutional Court in Spain is terrible. What we want is a new judicial system and parliament. We also want a strong separation between the state powers. We therefore propose that the highest offices and positions of those representing the judiciary should be elected either directly by the citizens or by three quarters of the parliament, "says Vidal. He believes that such an arrangement would oblige politicians to the elected representatives of the third state power in a completely different way. "By doing it this way, we are avoiding what is happening in Spain. People in the highest offices are elected due to political preferences. "Especially the judges in Spain's constitutional court have been chosen because of political interests," says Vidal. He says that he has not given up the fight to get his refereeing office back. He plans to appeal the decision to ban the profession both to the Spanish Supreme Court, the Spanish Constitutional Court and to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. "I will do this at the end of the year. I have a hope of winning the case and getting my office back. And if Catalonia becomes a free state, I will be able to return to my position.
"Unheard of in a European democracy"
A judge can freely both express himself and get involved in political contexts. Therefore, the occupational ban Vidal is exposed to is unacceptable. This is the opinion of both the leader of a Catalan judicial organization and a Swedish representative in the European Parliament. The state of the Spanish rule of law and the judicial sanctions against Vidal were debated in the European Parliament in Brussels on 2 June this year. The debate was led by Isabel-Helena Martí, President of the Catalan organization Sobiranía in Justícia ("Sovereignty and Justice"). She believes it must be acceptable for legal experts to conduct studies that analyze alternatives to the current Spanish constitution. "It is unheard of in a European democracy that a person – regardless of whether it is a judge – can be punished for having spent his free time participating in the development of a draft constitution on the initiative of civil society, with no other purpose than to present the draft. available to these people. Writing such a draft constitution is part of every citizen's freedom of expression, "Martí told Ny Tid. Bodil Valero, who is a representative in the European Parliament for the Swedish Green Party, is one of those who has followed the debate on Vidal closely over the past year. She believes the process against Vidal has aroused strong commitment from her colleagues both in Catalonia and in the European Parliament. "It is very disturbing that Vidal and other judges have been banned from working because they have written a draft of a new constitution in their spare time. This is not acceptable. He has the freedom to do exactly what he wants in his own free time. As long as a judge does not let political opinions control the act of the judge, he must be allowed to be politically interested – and also politically active, "Valero believes.
Bredesen is a freelance journalist. kim.bredesen@gmail.com.
