Read the Catalan Declaration of Sovereignty here.
Article by Catalan News Agency. May 9, 2013. Read the full article here.
On Wednesday the Spanish Constitutional Court suspended Catalonia’s Declaration of Sovereignty by admitting an appeal from the Spanish Government against the text. A few hours later, on the same day, the Catalan Parliament approved the creation of a parliamentary commission on Catalonia’s right to self-determination with 79.3% of yes votes and the support of 5 political groups. The commission will discuss ways to organise a vote on the hypothetical independence from Spain. The Declaration of Sovereignty, voted in on the 23rd of January, has no legal value since it is only a political statement stating that the Catalan people are sovereign to decide on their own collective future. However, the Spanish Government decided to appeal against it following the advice of its legal services, although at first they downplayed the text stating that it had no legal value. On Wednesday, by admitting the Spanish Government’s appeal against the Catalan Parliament’s text, the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended it until it has issued a sentence, which may take several years. The Catalan Parliament has already announced that it will appeal the Court’s decision since “it has no legal sense” as it is against a political statement made by a democratic chamber. In addition, the chamber’s President, Núria de Gispert, noted that it is the first time in Spanish democracy that a court has suspended an entire declaration which has no legal value and has been approved by a parliament. Furthermore, De Gispert underlined the fact that the declaration’s approval respected the Catalan Parliament’s procedures. In this vein, most of the parties supporting Catalonia’s right to self-determination, with the exception of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), criticised the suspension and emphasised that the self-determination process will go on. They are justifying this continuation as the Declaration has a political nature, which at the same time follows the citizens’ democratic will freely expressed in the November elections, when the majority of the votes went to parties defending Catalonia’s self-determination.
Article by Irish Times May 9, 2013. Read the full article here.
Americans For Catalonia 