Overview
- The Court of Justice of the European Union found that EU law does not bar Spain’s 2024 amnesty for people involved in the Catalan separatist drive, leaving the core of the law intact.
- The court said adopting and applying amnesty laws is primarily a matter for member states and clarified the legal limits of that national competence under EU rules.
- Judges struck down a specific provision that would have compelled Spanish courts to lift accounting responsibilities or preliminary proceedings within a fixed two‑month period while awaiting CJEU decisions.
- The decision strengthens the Spanish government and its Catalan partners politically by validating the amnesty that was part of the 2023 parliamentary deal that kept Pedro Sánchez in power, while conservative opponents say they will continue to contest the law.
- The ruling affects hundreds of officials and activists whose records the amnesty targeted and could ease the return of exiled separatist figures, but it also preserves a role for national courts to await EU preliminary rulings before ending proceedings.