Particle.news
Download on the App Store

EU Court Adviser Backs Most of Spain’s Amnesty Law, Flags Procedural Flaws

A final EU ruling is pending, leaving Spanish courts to decide how the measure applies to high‑profile cases.

Overview

  • Advocate General Dean Spielmann says the law does not harm EU financial interests or breach the bloc’s anti‑terrorism directive in the cases reviewed.
  • He warns that the two‑month deadline to close cases, limits on who must be heard, and orders to lift precautionary measures risk violating effective judicial protection and judicial independence.
  • The opinion is non‑binding but influential, with a Court of Justice judgment expected in the coming weeks or months.
  • The Spanish government hails a political vindication and urges application to figures such as Carles Puigdemont, while the PP highlights the cautions over judicial safeguards.
  • The conclusions suggest the CDR defendants should be amnestied and reject a direct EU‑budget link in the Tribunal de Cuentas case, but they do not address the Supreme Court’s stance on malversation, leaving outcomes to ongoing national proceedings including the Constitutional Court.