The High Court of Justice of Catalonia acquits Roger Torrent and three former members of the Bureau of Parliament of disobedience

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia acquits several former members of the Bureau of Parliament, namely the former president, Roger Torrent; the former first vice-president, Josep Costa; the former first secretary, Eusebi Campdepadrós, and the former fourth secretary, Adriana Delgado. In its reasoning, the Court notes that while the Constitutional Court had prohibited continuing the political process of independence, seeking to realise or exercise self-determination and continuing to censure Felipe VI for his speech of 3 October 2017, when the Bureau decided to accept the topics for debate, they sought to discuss self-determination as a mere political statement, with no intention of carrying it out. Furthermore, the High Court notes that the Constitutional Court’s orders came after the Bureau’s decisions, and that the defendants could not disobey a ruling they were not yet aware of. Indeed, the High Court concludes that the defendants were not in fact aware of the Consitutional Court’s ruling and that they did not seek to disobey it. Judge Marta Pesqueira dissents and ‘sentences’ the defendants to a fine. Josep Costa announces that he will appeal the ruling up to the European Court of Human Rights for several reasons, including the fact that the High Court’s ruling denies that the defendants have parliamentary inviolability. The Prosecutor’s Office is also appealing the sentence.