Spain's Constitutional Court has told the Tribunal Supremo to apply the amnesty law in the first case it reviewed. Arrest warrants for three Catalan leaders were lifted provisionally as the Supreme Court studies the ruling.
Judge Pablo Llarena has suspended the national arrest warrants for Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig. All three remain outside Spain. The order came after the Constitutional Court rejected the Supreme Court's refusal to apply the amnesty law to convictions linked to malversación.
The Policía Nacional, Guardia Civil and Mossos d'Esquadra have been told not to enforce the warrants. That changes the risk for Puigdemont, who could now return after almost nine years abroad without facing immediate detention at the border. The criminal proceedings are still open.
The suspension of the national warrants removes the immediate risk of Puigdemont being detained on entering Spain, but it does not yet constitute a final grant of amnesty.
Llarena stressed that his order is provisional. It does not apply the amnesty, erase criminal responsibility or settle the remaining legal questions. He will decide whether to comply with the Constitutional Court after reading the full judgment.
The judge must also assess whether the court's reasoning applies directly to Puigdemont and the two former ministers. That judgment is expected to reach the Tribunal Supremo shortly.
Sources at the Supreme Court say the judges will study the ruling and apply it if its wording leaves no room for another interpretation. That could overturn the decision that kept the convicted leaders outside the amnesty because their malversación fell within the law's exceptions.
The Constitutional Court called that reading excessively broad and contrary to the purpose of the law. It found violations of the rights to effective judicial protection and political participation, along with the principle of legality. The court also said the amnesty covered malversación offences tied to preparations for and the organisation of the independence process.
The court’s key distinction is that the amnesty law’s reference to personal patrimonial enrichment cannot automatically be equated with the economic element of malversación. The exclusion is intended to separate financing connected with the independence process from corruption pursued for private gain.
The ruling has opened a direct clash between the two courts. Five conservative magistrates opposed the position of seven progressive magistrates and plan to issue a joint dissenting opinion. They say the Constitutional Court has repeatedly taken over the Tribunal Supremo's role by reinterpreting its decisions.
The dissent will also challenge the substance of the ruling. The conservative magistrates argue that the purpose of secession cannot automatically be treated as incompatible with a personal patrimonial benefit.
The Constitutional Court approved the judgment during a brief plenary session. The case came from former minister Dolors Bassa. It was the first appeal reviewed by the court over the exclusion of malversación from the amnesty.
A separate draft on former minister Jordi Turull was also scheduled. José María Macías handed that draft to Cándido Conde-Pumpido for drafting.
More appeals are unlikely to move before the Supreme Court sets out its position. If the Tribunal Supremo grants amnesty to all the remaining leaders, including Oriol Junqueras in relation to his pending disqualification, the Constitutional Court would declare the other appeals without object and close them procedurally.
The reasoning could also affect the cases of Toni Comín, Lluís Puig and former ministers Raül Romeva and Oriol Junqueras. The next step matters.
Junts has said that Carles Puigdemont will not return to Spain until the case is definitively closed. The condition shows why the temporary lifting of the warrants is not a final resolution. The next decisive document is the Constitutional Court judgment, followed by the Supreme Court's response.
According to RTVE's account of the proceedings, Llarena ordered the immediate suspension of the warrants and notified the national police, Civil Guard and Catalan police forces. The notification changes how the warrants can be enforced on the ground. A separate judicial decision is still needed to decide whether criminal liability ends.
The legal route is now set, but the final procedural step remains open. The Constitutional Court has rejected the Supreme Court's interpretation and issued an instruction that the lower court must examine. The remaining dispute concerns how quickly and fully the Tribunal Supremo gives effect to the ruling.
