Judgment in Case C-115/21 P Junqueras I Vies v Parliament

Thursday 22nd December 2022

Judgment in Case C-115/21 P Junqueras I Vies v Parliament

(Law governing the institutions)

By judgment of the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court, Spain) delivered on 14 October 2019, Mr Oriol Junqueras i Vies was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment and disqualified from holding any public office for the same period, entailing the loss of all his existing public posts and duties, including those to which he had been elected, and was barred from obtaining or performing any further such posts or duties.

The charges brought against him included participation in a process of secession as Vice-President of the Gobierno autonómico de Cataluña (Autonomous Government of Catalonia, Spain) when a referendum on self-determination was held there. While the criminal proceedings leading to that judgment were still ongoing, Mr Junqueras i Vies was elected as a Member of the European Parliament on 26 May 2019, that result being announced by Spain’s Central Electoral Board in a decision of 13 June 2019.

However, since Mr Junqueras i Vies had not been granted authorisation to take the oath to abide by the Spanish Constitution as persons elected to the European Parliament are required to do under national law, his seat was declared vacant by the Central Electoral Board in a decision of 20 June 2019.

By judgment of 19 December 2019, the Court of Justice answered questions referred to it by the Tribunal Supremo concerning the immunity provided for in the Protocol on the privileges and immunities of the European Union. On 20 December 2019, Ms Diana Riba i Giner, a Member of the European Parliament, requested that the President of the European Parliament take measures as a matter of urgency, on the basis of Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, to assert the immunity of Mr Junqueras i Vies.

By decision of 3 January 2020, Spain’s Central Electoral Board declared Mr Junqueras i Vies ineligible to hold office, due to his having been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Mr Junqueras i Vies applied to the Tribunal Supremo for suspension of operation of that decision, but his application was dismissed.

By order of 9 January 2020, the Tribunal Supremo ruled on the effects of the judgment of the Court of Justice of 19 December 2019 on the criminal proceedings concerning Mr Junqueras i Vies. It held that it was not appropriate to authorise Mr Junqueras i Vies to travel to the European Parliament, to authorise his release, to set aside the judgment of 14 October 2019 or to ask the European Parliament to waive parliamentary immunity. The Tribunal Supremo also decided to notify the Central

Electoral Board and the European Parliament of that order. It considered that, given the stage that had been reached in the criminal proceedings against Mr Junqueras i Vies at the time of his election to the European Parliament, he was not covered by parliamentary immunity under Spanish law.

At the plenary sitting of 13 January 2020, the President of the European Parliament invited that institution to take note that Mr Junqueras i Vies had been elected to the European Parliament with effect from 2 July 2019 and that his seat had become vacant with effect from 3 January 2020.

Mr Junqueras i Vies then brought an action before the General Court of the European Union seeking annulment, first, of the declaration of 13 January 2020 and, secondly, of the alleged refusal by the President of the European Parliament to grant Ms Riba i Giner’s request of 20 December 2019 that measures be taken as a matter of urgency to assert the immunity of Mr Junqueras i Vies.

By its order of 15 December 2020, the General Court dismissed the action brought by Mr Junqueras i Vies as inadmissible. Mr Junqueras i Vies then brought an appeal against that order before the Court of Justice.

Background Documents C-115/21 P