The Spanish Constitutional Court has agreed a cautionary suspension of the Catalan Parliament's agreement that sets the appearance before the chamber of the president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, to discuss the effects of the referendum for Monday 9th October.
The suspension comes at the request of PSC (the Catalan branch of PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) who presented a writ of amparo (a motion to protect constitutional rights) arguing that the agreement taken by the Parliament this Wednesday about the president's appearance violates the rights of the deputies of the chamber.
In the appeal, the left-wing party argued that if the session were to declare independence it would break the Constitution and cause an "annihilation" of the rights of the deputies. Although the sole point on the order of the day does not mention a declaration of independence, CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) said that the Catalan republic would be proclaimed in the session.
For this reason, PSC, in their appeal, invoked article 56.6 of the law governing the Constitutional Court, which enables it to totally or partially suspend the object of the writ of amparo, in this case Puigdemont's appearance, at the moment the appeal is accepted for consideration.
Specifically, the article the party used to request the suspension of the parliamentary session says that "in cases of exceptional urgency, the adoption of the suspension and the cautionary or provisional measures can be taken in the resolution accepting the writ into consideration. This adoption can be challenged within five days of the notification, by the public prosecutor or other interested parties."
The 11 magistrates who make up the court believe that this case does involve the "exceptional urgency" referred to by the statute, as carrying through with the suspended agreement "would cause damage very difficult or impossible to repair" that "would make the writ of amparo lose its purpose".
When accepting the writ for consideration, the court declared "radically invalid and without value or any effect, any act, resolution, agreement or extrajudicial means that contravenes the suspension agreed on 7th September, namely the suspension of the 1st October referendum.