Oriol Junqueras and eight ex-officials have filed an appeal against the Tribunal de Cuentas. They argue the court ignored a key EU ruling on the amnesty law. The case affects dozens of former Catalan government members.
The legal team representing Oriol Junqueras and eight other former senior officials of the Catalan government has formally appealed a recent decision by the Tribunal de Cuentas. The appeal claims that the Spanish court's approach directly contradicts a recent ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the application of Spain's amnesty law to the so-called procés case.
At the heart of the dispute is the Tribunal de Cuentas' decision to grant a ten-day period for all parties involved to submit arguments on whether the amnesty law should apply to alleged misuse of public funds for international promotion of the Catalan independence process. The defense argues that this procedural step ignores the CJEU's clear position, delivered last week, which found that the European Union's financial interests were not affected by the actions under investigation.
Lawyers for Junqueras, along with those representing Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, and six other former Generalitat officials, insist that the Tribunal de Cuentas is acting in open defiance of the CJEU's judgment. According to their appeal, the Spanish court's move to seek further submissions from the parties is both unnecessary and inconsistent with the EU court's findings. The CJEU had responded to a preliminary question from the Tribunal de Cuentas itself, clarifying that the facts under review did not breach EU financial regulations and that the amnesty law was compatible with European law.
The defense is now demanding that the Tribunal de Cuentas annul its order for additional arguments and instead issue a new resolution that directly applies the amnesty law to the case. The proceedings impact nearly forty former Catalan officials, including ex-presidents Artur Mas and Carles Puigdemont, who are accused of authorizing or facilitating the use of public funds for the international campaign supporting Catalan independence.
In their submission, the defense team—primarily representing figures linked to Esquerra Republicana—accuses the Tribunal de Cuentas of misrepresenting the CJEU's decision. The Spanish court's insistence on further debate over the amnesty's applicability, particularly in relation to potential EU budget involvement, had already been criticized by the public prosecutor as unwarranted and redundant.
The appellants maintain that the CJEU's ruling leaves no doubt: since no EU funds were implicated and there was no financial impact on the EU budget, the amnesty law does not violate European interests. Therefore, they argue, the Tribunal de Cuentas should have immediately recognized the amnesty's effect on the case, rather than prolonging the process.
This legal challenge is not the only recent move by defense teams for Catalan leaders. Carles Puigdemont's lawyers have already filed a complaint with the European Commission, describing the Tribunal de Cuentas' actions as an improper attempt to obstruct the implementation of the amnesty law.
The Tribunal de Cuentas is a Spanish court responsible for overseeing the financial conduct of public officials and institutions. Its decisions can have significant consequences for those accused of misusing public funds. The current dispute highlights ongoing tensions between Spanish judicial authorities and European legal standards, especially in politically sensitive cases involving Catalonia. The outcome of this appeal could set a precedent for how EU law is interpreted and enforced in Spain, particularly in cases where national and European interests intersect.
